Ever since Giancarlo Stanton went down with an injury and Paul Goldschmidt found himself in the starting lineup pretty much every day, the Yankees have had a fairly consistent strategy atop the order. Against right-handed pitchers, Trent Grisham would lead off, and against southpaws, Goldschmidt would. In fact, between Stanton’s injury back on April 24th and Grisham’s injury this past weekend, the Yankees deviated from this pattern just four times, with Ben Rice sitting atop the order on May 16th,
May 20th, May 21st, and June 2nd.
Early indications suggest that the Yankees might opt to have Rice lead off against righties, while continuing to bat him second against lefties; indeed, this is exactly what they did last Saturday, the team’s first day without Grisham. I would like to make the case, however, for another batter to sit atop the order: Jasson Domínguez.
Back when he was a top prospect, Yankees fans dreamed of the Martian as a middle-of-the-order bat. During his 2023 cup of coffee, that seemed accurate, as he hit four home runs in just eight games before requiring Tommy John surgery. Aside from that stretch, however, the prodigious power he demonstrated as a 16-year-old has not really materialized at the Major League level, and while there’s still time for that to come around — he is, after all, just 23 years old — that is not the player he is today.
The traits that have developed, though, suggest to me that he could be an effective bat at the top of the order. In 429 plate appearances last season, Domínguez worked 41 walks, good for a 9.6 walk rate that ranked in the 67th percentile. Although he has not yet demonstrated that so far this season, this walk rate matches what analysts have said about him during his years as a prospect: for example, MLB’s top prospect lists said prior to the 2024 season that “he draws more than his share of walks.” And while he’s not been barreling the ball as of yet, he has cut down his strikeout rates both in the majors (14.6 percent, down from 26.8 percent last season) and in the minors (16.1 percent when in Scranton).
Even if it hasn’t resulted in real production as of yet, there’s quite a bit of red on that Statcast profile. Batting in front of a hitter like Ben Rice, the Martian would see a lot of pitches to hit, as teams will want to avoid putting runners on for the Yankees’ first baseman/designated hitter. Even though our sample size is still too small to say with certainty that Domínguez will see positive regression, they provide some reason for optimism that he can at least get on base at a decent clip while providing some power in the gaps and making some plays on the basepaths with his speed — which is exactly what the Yankees could use as a table setter with Grisham out so many hitters out.
Furthermore, using Domínguez as the leadoff hitter against righties allows the rest of the lineup to settle in with some consistency behind him. In particular, this lets Rice bat second on a daily basis, which is what he absolutely should be doing right now as the team’s best hitter with Aaron Judge on the shelf. While the rest of the order behind him will likely see quite a bit of platoon-based turnover — in particular, the Yankees have been sliding Goldschmidt between Rice and Cody Bellinger against righties ever since Judge got hurt and batting Amed Rosario in the middle of the order against southpaws — allowing Rice to anchor the lineup construction in the two hole, much like Judge does when healthy, will go a long way towards getting the most of out this Judge-less lineup.
