The Yankees and Tigers square off in Williamsport Sunday night for the Little League Classic and due to the special nature of the game, both clubs are allowed to add a 27th player to their active rosters. The two teams have each addressed this extra roster spot in a particularly noteworthy way, as the Yankees called up star prospect Jasson Dominguez from Triple-A and the Tigers activated outfielder Riley Greene from the 10-day injured list.
While Dominguez is in the starting lineup for the Little League Classic, it looks like it’ll just be a cup of coffee in the majors for the 21-year-old, as Yankees manager Aaron Boone told reporters (including MLB.com’s Bryan Hoch) that Dominguez will be returned to Triple-A after the game. Obviously plans could change in the event of an injury, but for now, it looks like the Yankees are just utilizing the right-hitting Dominguez to spell lefty-swinging Alex Verdugo in left field since southpaw Tarik Skubal is starting for Detroit.
Sunday night will mark Dominguez’s first MLB game since last September, when he hit .258/.303/.677 with four homers in his first 33 plate appearances in the big leagues. However, just as “the Martian” appeared to be living up to the hype, he had to undergo Tommy John surgery, which kept him on the shelf until he returned for a rehab assignment in single-A ball in mid-May. Dominguez quickly moved back up the ladder to Triple-A but then suffered an oblique strain in June that kept him out of action for another six weeks.
Dominguez is hitting .298/.365/.477 with seven homers over his 167 combined PA at three levels of the Yankees’ farm system this season, so while he isn’t dominating minor league pitching, his numbers are still quite solid (especially for a player battling so many injuries). Under normal circumstances, he would likely be in the majors already if it wasn’t for the crowded nature of New York’s outfield picture. Aaron Judge, Juan Soto and Verdugo are the starting outfield trio, and Giancarlo Stanton has the DH spot on lockdown, leaving little room for Dominguez to find regular playing time.
“There’s currently no lane for us to bring him [up],” Yankees GM Brian Cashman stated last week. “It’s nice to know he’s there. He’s just knocking rust off and waiting for his opportunity if it comes.”
This one-game cameo doesn’t really counter Cashman’s statement, as the team would surely prefer to see Dominguez continue his development with regular reps in Triple-A rather than only sporadic playing time in New York. It is worth noting that Verdugo has been in a deep slump for over three months now, so as we continue down the stretch to the postseason, it wouldn’t be a shock to see Dominguez promoted to take the lion’s share of work in left field.
On the Tigers side, Greene last played on July 25, as a right hamstring strain has kept the outfielder sidelined for the better part of a month. Detroit doesn’t need to make a corresponding roster move Sunday because of the 27th man rule, but some kind of roster adjustment will need to be made before Detroit’s next game, on Tuesday against the Cubs.
Now in his third major league season, Greene has continued to take strides as a budding star for the Tigers, hitting .264/.357/.485 with 17 home runs over 427 PA. Between this production at the plate and some excellent glove-work as Detroit’s primary left fielder, Greene has already generated 2.8 fWAR and his success was acknowledged with his first All-Star nod. While the Tigers haven’t yet turned the corner in their rebuild process, Greene certainly looks like a cornerstone player within the club’s future plans.
