The lineup the Yankees roll out on Monday night in Texas will be far less important than the lineup they'll play in the first game of the playoffs, whether that's in a best-of-three wild-card round or a best-of-five division series.
So it may be best to hold back any anger over the decision by higher-ups not to promote Jason Dominguez to the main team on Sunday, when clubs were allowed to expand rosters to 28 players by adding one position player and one pitcher.
The Yankees promoted Duke Ellis, a 26-year-old baserunning specialist with four career major league at-bats, as a designated player (where is Herb Washington when you need him?), but that decision is not set in stone, and Dominguez could be recalled at any time.
“[He was] “He's definitely on the list and he's definitely going to be on the list,” manager Aaron Boone said Sunday before the Yankees' 14-7 loss to the Cardinals at the Stadium, a game that resembled an under-10 recreational league with a lack of baseball fundamentals. “Once he gets promoted, you want to use him every day, so he's definitely going to be on the list.”
If Boone and general manager Brian Cashman want Dominguez to play every day, they can. It's within their control. They're not prohibited by law from playing the 21-year-old as much as they want. But for now, they're sticking with Alex Verdugo as their starting left fielder, despite his OPS being below .550 since mid-June.
The question that remains unanswered at this point is whether the team is sticking with Verdugo, who had two hits as the ninth batter, because they want him in the lineup when the playoffs start, or because they believe Dominguez needs more preparation at the Triple-A level before being ready for the proving ground.
The team's top prospect may still be recovering from an oblique injury that forced him to miss about a month early in the season. He has just 151 at-bats with Scranton/Wilkes-Barre, including going hitless for four on Sunday, and just 201 in the minor leagues this year overall. There are still three weeks left on the SWB schedule.
“We feel like he's come off an oblique injury over the last couple weeks and is starting to play well,” Boone said. “So it's a tough call right now, but it doesn't mean that in a few days, a week, two weeks or however many days from now, things won't be different. But it's important for him right now to keep playing.”
The Yankees typically aren't shy about taking chances on promising players, and Verdugo is 28 and in his sixth major league season, so this isn't a veteran vs. young player decision. If it is, that's a bit of a misconception, but I don't think so.
Boone has graded Verdugo as a plus defender all year, even though the eyes and metrics don't always back up that claim. It was almost a footnote in a game where something funny happened Sunday, when St. Louis catcher Ivan Herrera threw a ball to Jazz Chisholm trying to steal bases in the bottom of the sixth inning that hit the back of a crouching pitcher, John King.
Anthony Rizzo returned to the lineup for the first time since breaking his right forearm in a collision at Fenway on June 16, going 2-for-4 with a run-scoring double in the opposite field. The Yankees are last in the league in basically every category of offensive first baseman power, so Rizzo's return could be worth noting.
Of course, when Rizzo was sidelined, he was slashing .223/.289/.341 with a .630 OPS and -0.5 bWAR. While dealing with post-concussion symptoms, Rizzo was slashing .174/.272/.227 with a .499 OPS and 0.5 bWAR. What the Yankees need is a career model Rizzo, not a fake one.
“I think you're expected to take it one day at a time, but I'm really just expecting to go out there and be myself. That's the goal, to be myself,” Rizzo said. “Anytime things aren't going well, it's easy to look at the negative if you want to, but sometimes you just focus on getting back on track, so I just stay focused on that.”
“You can't avoid it, but as a baseball player, you go through it. And hopefully today it's moving in the right direction.”
Rizzo had two hits as the seventh batter. Verdugo, who had batted eighth or ninth in the past seven games, had two hits as the ninth batter. Anthony Volpe had a hit as the eighth batter. This reflects the “length … length” of the lineup that Boone cited when talking about Rizzo and Verdugo.
The Yankees have lost four of their last five games and have won just 11 of their last 23. Baltimore is four games under .500 over the last 10 weeks, and the Yankees have been unable to shake off the Orioles. If winning the division and avoiding the first round is a priority, Monday's lineup in Texas could be important.
But let's be honest, we all know October will be a make-or-break month for this team. The Yankees have an obligation to be in tip-top shape going into the season. It's almost inconceivable that they would not give Dominguez a legitimate opportunity to be a part of the team.
