In an extraordinary scene, several Yankees — Aaron Judge, Jazz Chisholm Jr., Cody Bellinger, Trent Grisham and Amed Rosario — huddled together on the warning track in left field, nearby manager Aaron Boone and several trainers. Both dugouts were filled with players and coaches on the top step peering over.
Such was the concern over Jasson Domínguez, who made a remarkable play that came with a cost.
On the eighth pitch to the first batter of Thursday afternoon’s game, the Yankees’ left fielder ranged back and did not slow as he smashed into the wall and then smashed into the dirt, his hat and sunglasses tumbling off of him and the ball secure in his glove.
Domínguez was down for several minutes after robbing Brandon Nimmo. He was able to get up on his own but was emotional upon being carted off the field, with multiple reasons for concern.
“The Martian” is in concussion protocol and will be monitored over the next few days, the Yankees announced, after an initial examination by head team physician Christopher Ahmad. He was then sent to NewYork-Presbyterian, where his left shoulder required an MRI. Immediate results were not yet known.
In the aftermath, Ryan McMahon entered the game at third base, pushing Rosario from third to right field and Bellinger from right to left.
This season already had tested Domínguez, who did not complain when he did not make the major league roster out of camp — a near impossibility once the club brought back Grisham and Bellinger — and reported to Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre, where he took out any frustration on opposing pitchers.
He performed well and then was called up essentially to replace the injured Giancarlo Stanton in late April. In Domínguez’s third game, he exited in pain after getting drilled in the left elbow. In his ninth game on Thursday, the concern level escalated.
