Jason Dominguez is the backup quarterback. If you're a Yankees fan, you're growing to hate the starter and what you don't know is more important than what you do know, so he's the answer. In this case, Dominguez is better than Alex Verdugo.
I know, I know you're familiar with Dominguez, since he hit four homers in eight major league games last year and has had some great minor league success. But Ben Rice is getting a lot of hits early on in the majors after a great minor league performance (.925 OPS in 268 at-bats this year, Dominguez .852 in 212 at-bats). How is Rice doing these days?
If your argument is that Dominguez has a much better prospect pedigree than Rice, then yes, but not as good as Anthony Volpe. And how has Volpe been offensively in his two seasons? And his defense has certainly looked fine as of late. The big leagues are tough, and the minor leagues are as bad as they've ever been (really, by any evaluator you ask), so whether or not you'll make it big in the minors is not a good barometer to bet on.
Still, the Yankees will need to assess their backup quarterback as they head into the final month and final chance to upgrade their roster. Hopefully it's Jordan Love and not Trey Lance. The team played their final game Saturday before the roster was expanded from 26 to 28 players. Anthony Rizzo returns Sunday from a broken forearm he suffered in mid-June. The Yankees hope he can get closer to the league-average first baseman performance that Rice and DJ LeMahieu have yet to achieve. Oswaldo Cabrera was 0-for-4 in his second start of the year, struck out for a clock violation in the top of the ninth, and the Cardinals quickly won, 6-5.
Over the next few days in September, the Yankees could be in the strongest physical shape they've been all year with Jon Bertie, Luis Gil, Ian Hamilton and Clark Schmidt all nearing return.
But the most intriguing question concerns Dominguez. Brian Cashman said recently that he doesn't see a path for the switch-hitter to be at bat every day and that it doesn't make sense to expect Dominguez to learn on the fly to help off the bench. That means the Yankees have no choice but to trust, as most fans believe, that Dominguez can get into the pennant race and outperform the still-strong defensive Verdugo, including getting a runner out with a home run on Saturday. Cashman did not respond to a text message asking if his stance on Dominguez had changed.
One reason to choose Dominguez is whether he could be worse than Verdugo, who has not only batted .232/.292 with just one home run in the second half of the season, but also has the lethargic body language of Gary Sanchez, who plays poorly when he's not playing well, making him a target for the Bronx.
This is an all-in year, especially with the best years of Gerrit Cole and Aaron Judge and Juan Soto's only solid season in the Bronx coming to an end. Manager Aaron Boone's trademark is his absolute protection of his players, so the last thing fans need to worry about is how letting go of a player who has been in the race like Verdugo will be received in the clubhouse. Plus, if Dominguez turns out not to be ready for the situation, will Verdugo be able to keep him around when the time comes to change course?
Not only will Verdugo have to sit on the bench, but with a 14-man roster limit for position players, the Yankees would have to add more personnel by either demoting bench-eligible Cabrera or waiving Trent Grisham to move Rice down for Rizzo and make room for both Berti and Dominguez, because Hal Steinbrenner doesn't appear ready to shoulder the costs of LeMahieu's two-year, $30 million bonus after this season.
“We're looking to win every day because of where we are in the standings so obviously there's a sense of urgency on the day, but we always try to keep the bigger picture in mind,” Boone said.
But the bigger picture is small. There are only 26 games left in the regular season. Emotions have to be short-term. Will Warren, who pitched poorly again Saturday, was also demoted. The Yankees could use a couple of position players like Ron Marinaccio. But Schmidt is now working his way back into the rotation, with at most one more rehab start, and Gill is probably at the same time.
Boone and the Yankees must decide whether to try Gill's power arm in relief or use Nestor Cortez as a left-handed pitcher in the bullpen along with Tim Hill. Imagine that conversation with Cortez: Would Boone strip LeMahieu of all playing time? Would he use the defensively-talented Cabrera at third base late in the innings instead of the still-learning Jazz Chisholm Jr.? And would Boone and the Yankees use Dominguez's potential to bench Verdugo and avoid losing him if Dominguez isn't really an immediate savior?
With an expanded roster and fewer games remaining on Sunday, the Yankees and manager Boone must decide whether it's time to turn to their backup quarterback.
