The Martian Landed in Sacramento

The Yankees had a very nice weekend with the bats in Sacramento as they pounded A’s pitching for 29 runs in winning two of three games. And the series featured a breakout performance by young Jasson Dominguez on Friday, and two excellent starts from Will Warren and Ray Yarbrough. Lets get to it. 

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When Jasson Dominguez made his spectacular major league debut in September 2023, hitting four home runs in eight games, the first of which came on the first pitch he saw in his debut against future Hall of Famer Justin Verlander in Houston, it looked like the Yankees finally had a sure-fire superstar coming up from their minor league system.

Yes, Anthony Volpe debuted to great fanfare that season, but you had to go back to 2016, the year Aaron Judge and Gary Sanchez first arrived in the Bronx, to find the same type of excitement and expectation that came with Dominguez’s debut.

We’d been hearing about this kid since the Yankees signed him out of the Dominican Republic when he was 16 years old, and as he started his journey through the minors he was tagged with the nickname The Martian because he was such a physical marvel who did not seem to be from this planet.

With the Yankees out of playoff contention, he was brought him up to give him a taste of the bigs that September, and the switch hitter took a big gulp, showing off his power, speed and fielding ability. But barely a week after his arrival, disaster struck in the form of an elbow injury that required Tommy John surgery, costing him almost all of 2024, and even when he returned, the Yankees hardly used him because of a crowded outfield situation.

This year, they told the kid that left field was all his, and as he was trying to get things figured out in the field, it led to a bit of a slow start with the bat, especially from the right side. But now we’re starting to see that he can be a destructive force when he’s right, which he certainly was in this series against the A’s, particularly Friday night when he hit three home runs and drove in seven during a 10-2 blowout.

“He’s capable of things like that,” Aaron Boone said.

Dominguez became the youngest Yankee ever to hit three home runs in a game, moving past Joe DiMaggio who did it in 1937 when he was also 22 but was 109 days older. Dominguez is also the first Yankee since Aaron Hicks in 2018 with a three-homer game that included homers from both side, and he’s the third player in MLB history to do that with one being a grand slam, a feat previously accomplished by Boston’s Bill Mueller in 2003.

“Tonight was special,” Dominguez told reporters. “I get a homer from the right side, my first grand slam, my first three-homer game. Today was a really special night that I will remember. It means a lot. To be able to write your name in history is a really big deal ... When I hit the third one, it was funny, I was just telling myself like, ‘No way, there’s no way.’”

He wasn’t done for the weekend. Saturday wasn’t great as he went 0-for-3, but he did draw a walk and score a run. And then Sunday he singled in his first two at bats, drew a walk and scored twice, once when he came all the way home from first on a double. For the season he has five homers, 19 RBI and his OPS is .791 as he’s slashing .250/.343/.448.

“Just going back to spring training, the guy goes out there and wins a job,” Aaron Judge said. “The work I saw him put in on the back fields when no one was really looking on the defensive side, the work in the cage. To see him have a game like tonight, with three homers, it’s just special. I think you see the excitement in the dugout on each homer. Happy for him. He’s going to have a fantastic year.”

Boone has been juggling his outfielders because he has four men for three spots, so he hasn’t been able to start Dominguez every night. As they say, it’s a good problem to have, but in reality, it’s still a problem. You’d rather see Dominguez start every game so he can continue to grow and not stunt his development, but Judge plays every day, Trent Grisham has earned his playing time, and while Cody Bellinger is not off to a good start at the plate, you can’t just bench him.

Regardless, it’s just good to see Dominguez making strides because as I said, for several years as he came up through the minors, he was the alleged next star in waiting, and hopefully that winds up being the case.

May 9: Yankees 10, A’s 2

➤ This was quite a night for the Yankees’ farm system as two of its prized graduates - Dominguez and Will Warren - put on astonishing performances and combined to lead a blowout victory.

➤ Dominguez’s night began poorly when he struck out to end the first inning, leaving runners at second and third. But in the third, he and Paul Goldschmidt hit back-to-back homers for a 2-0 lead; in the fifth he hit a sacrifice fly; in the seventh he hit a solo homer that made it 4-0; and then in the eighth he capped a five-run explosion with his grand slam.

➤ The night Dominguez had was far more expected than what Warren did. He pitched a career-high 7.1 innings allowing just one run on four hits and a walk with seven strikeouts. Given the way he has pitched this year, there was no way I thought this was possible. It’s funny, but because the game was on the West coast and played in a minor-league ballpark in Sacramento, I’m reminded of the old saying, if a tree falls in a forest and no one is around to hear it, does it make a sound?

➤ The Yankees had 14 hits and nine were for extra bases - the four homers plus doubles by Judge, JC Escarra, Yorbit Vivas, Ben Rice and Oswaldo Cabrera. And there could have been more damage because they went just 3-for-14 with runners in scoring position and left 12 men on base. Again, I sure wish this game had been played when we could have watched it.

What they said in Friday’s clubhouse

• Boone on Warren: “Hopefully another step for him and another confidence booster for him. I think he knows he can be successful in this league. A night like tonight is validation for that. He was really good.”

• Warren: “I’ve said it’s close. I meant that. I think it comes down to executing our plan, and sometimes you miss a few inches outside, a guy gets on, it can change an entire game. … Tonight we executed our plan.”

May 10: A’s 11, Yankees 7

➤ This was a disappointing loss because the Yankees did some good work to overcome an early 4-0 deficit and take the lead at 6-4, but then the bullpen imploded and gave up seven runs combined in the seventh and eighth innings. It feels like it’s a different guy blowing it every time and in this one, it was Fernando Cruz. It’s weird with him, but he’s either great - which he has been most of the year - or he gets rocked. He got rocked Saturday.

➤ To start, Carlos Rodon was not great as he allowed four runs on eight hits, but he wasn’t terrible as he did not walk a batter and struck out a season-high 10 which included 20 swings and misses. What hurt him is what always hurts him - the long ball. He served up a solo homer to Luis Urias in the second and then a three-run bomb to Brent Rooker in the third. But from there, he finished six innings without allowing another run and he was in line for a victory.

➤ That’s because after scoring just one run off ex-Yankee JP Sears, the offense erupted for five runs in the sixth against reliever Justin Sterner who had not allowed a run all season. Judge hit his second solo homer of the game, Volpe had a double, Austin Wells and Cabrera had sacrifice flies and Oswald Peraza capped it with a two-run homer.

➤ But in the seventh, Cruz gave up a go-ahead three-run homer to Shea Langeliers, and in the eighth, Ian Hamilton and Tyler Matzek continued to suck as Hamilton loaded the bases and Matzek came in to allow a two-run single and a two-run double. Awful job by those two who should be relegated to blowout games until they get their shit figured out.

What they said in Saturday’s clubhouse

• Cruz on the homer he allowed: “I thought it was a sacrifice fly. I was already thinking about the next hitter to get him out.”

• Rodon on pitching in Sacramento’s minor league ballpark: “Definitely hitter friendly. But everybody has to play in this park. There’s not many buildings around to knock down (the wind). It’s not a big, built-up stadium. The wind plays a big factor especially during the day. That’s what makes the game interesting. Unfortunately we couldn’t hold on. As a group we need to throw the ball better, including myself.”

• Peraza on his home run: “Definitely a special moment there. I’m really enjoying being part of this team and finding a way just to stay ready. The opportunities, you want to be ready for when they come.”

May 11: Yankees 12, A’s 2

➤ No complaints about the Yankees offense this weekend. In the three games they tattooed the A’s for 29 runs on 38 hits including eight home runs. Granted, the A’s are not great, and as Rodon said, the ballpark - which is also home to the Giants’ Triple-A team - is hitter-friendly, but the Yankees did some excellent work with the bats and it led to a series victory.

➤ Ex-Yankee Luis Severino, pitching against his old team for the first time, whizzed through a 1-2-3 first inning, but then it all fell apart in the second when the Yankees sent 10 men to the plate to score five runs. Severino had zero command in the inning and gave up four hits, two walks and hit a batter. Goldschmidt had an RBI double and Judge began his four-hit day with a two-run single that made it 5-0.

➤ Cabrera doubled home a run in the third, and in the fifth, Severino gave up two singles before Mitch Spence relieved him, and he allowed those two runs to score, meaning Severino was tagged for eight on the day. The Yankees went on to bat around for the second time in the game as Goldschmidt had another RBI double and the big blow was a Rice grand slam with two outs that made it 10-1. The Yankees hit five grand slams in all of 2024; they already have four this season, three of those coming in the past week.

➤ Goldschmidt had his third RBI double in the seventh to close the scoring and his three-hit game bumped his average to .349. I certainly did not expect this from the 37-year-old free agent signing.

➤ Ryan Yarbrough has been a very nice surprise. He now has started two games and has pitched well in both. In this one he went five innings and gave up just two runs on six hits and a walk to get the win. The average speed of his fastball is third-slowest in MLB, but his variety of off-speed pitches and decent location kept the A’s off balance. Yerry De los Santos then came in and put up three scoreless innings which was nice to see, and even Matzek got through a scoreless ninth.

➤ With Carlos Carrasco gone, the Yankees don’t have a No. 5 starter, especially after the news Sunday that Marcus Stroman is still experiencing pain in his knee and isn’t ready to return, which is good news. So Yarbrough - who worked occasionally as an opener during his days with the Rays - might continue in this role for a little while as the Yankees wait for Stroman and eventually Luis Gil to return.

➤ It looks as if DJ LeMahieu is going to be activated this week, perhaps as early as Monday. I have to believe that means Pablo Reyes’ time with the Yankees will be done, though they could simply sent Vivas back to Triple-A.

What they said in Sunday’s clubhouse

• Boone on the offense and the bounce-back win: “Just really good at-bats from our offense this entire series. We’ve had our share of tough losses here to start the year, and I feel like at every turn we’ve really bounced back well the next day. It’s the grind, right? You just keep turning the page.”

• Yarbrough on his outing: “A lot of soft contact. It was good just keeping guys off balance and in between certain things. Trying to be efficient. Especially when we’re scoring like that, you want to get the guys back in as soon as possible.”

• Judge on Rice’s grand slam: “To see him get some big insurance runs right there to put the game out of reach, that kind of helped everybody relax and just do their thing,” outfielder Aaron Judge said of Rice. “It was a big swing for Benny and also a big swing for the team.”

The Yankees head up to Seattle for three games and they’ll be facing a team in an ornery mood. The Mariners (22-17) had won nine consecutive series which they hadn’t done since 2001, the year they set the AL record with 116 victories. And then out of nowhere, they went flat and got swept at home by the Blue Jays which, obviously, was not a pleasant development for them or for us Yankees fans. Toronto won a pair of 6-3 games and a 9-1 blowout Sunday.

Here are some of the Mariners’ top players to watch

➤ C Cal Raleigh: He is one of the best hitting catchers in MLB and he leads the Mariners with 12 homers and his OPS is .917.

➤ DH Jorge Polanco: He signed as a free agent in February and is off to a great start with a team-high 28 RBI and 1.026 OPS.

➤ CF Julio Rodriguez: We keep hearing he’s a superstar, but if that’s true, he’s been a bit of a disappointment and this season he’s scuffling with a .228 average and a .710 OPS.

➤ SS JP Crawford: A tremendous fielder who’s hitting .282 with 17 RBI.

➤ RP Andres Munoz: He’s been a dominant closer with an AL-leading 13 saves without allowing a single run in 18 innings and 12.5 strikeouts per nine.

The pitching matchups are scheduled to be:

• Monday, 9:40, YES: Clarke Schmidt (4.79) vs. Emerson Hancock (5.70) who has been helping fill the void for the injured George Kirby and Logan Gilbert, two of the Mariners’ top pitchers.

• Tuesday, 9:40, YES: Max Fried (1.05) vs Bryan Woo (3.25) who last year has a 2.89 ERA in 22 starts, though his worst of 2024 came against the Yankees in September when he gave up a season-high seven runs.

• Wednesday, 4:10, YES: Will Warren (4.75) vs Luis Castillo (3.95) who is not the the same pitcher he was in 2023 when he made the All-Star game but he’s had some success against the Yankees (2.95 ERA in six starts for the Reds and Mariners).