In bringing up the organization’s top prospect, Yankees manager Aaron Boone said Jasson Dominguez would play “a lot.”
Boone did not say Dominguez would play every day.
The Yankees are attempting a balancing act with Dominguez, Alex Verdugo and much of the outfield/DH group, with Dominguez sitting Friday night for a second time in three games.
Verdugo received the start in left field against Boston righty Richard Fitts (who was inserted after righty Tanner Houck was scratched) and worked one of the bigger walks of the game. Verdugo played alongside Aaron Judge in center field and Juan Soto in right, with Giancarlo Stanton serving as designated hitter.
Boone said he anticipated that Stanton would sit, Judge would DH and Dominguez would play Saturday afternoon. He is trying to find time for everyone, including Verdugo.
“Wanted to keep Dugie in the mix,” Boone said of Verdugo, who continued to show positive signs in the Yankees’ 5-4, comeback win over the Red Sox in The Bronx.
Since Dominguez was summoned Monday, Verdugo and Dominguez have each started three times. What is becoming clear is Verdugo’s playing time is being reduced but not eliminated.
After a rough June, July and August, Verdugo has reached base safely in 10 games in September in which he is hitting .286.
Verdugo did not record a hit Friday but had a key walk that started the Yankees’ rally in the seventh inning.
He fell behind, 0-2, to Zack Kelly.
Verdugo fouled a pitch off and then stared at four straight balls.
Three batters later, Judge blasted the go-ahead grand slam.
“He’s been having good at-bats here for a few weeks now,” Boone said of Verdugo. “That [at-bat], in the moment, especially ahead of what Aaron did, was one of the big ones in that inning.”
Dominguez, a 21-year-old with an enormous ceiling but with 12 career games played, has gone 2-for-10 with a walk, two singles and four strikeouts since the call-up.
Dominguez is a switch-hitter but much stronger from the left side.
“Wanting just to keep guys playing and active and in rhythm to the best degree possible,” Boone said of his juggling act.
DJ LeMahieu, who was placed on the injured list Monday with a right hip contusion, had a cortisone injection Thursday, the Yankees said.
The team will wait a few days before reassessing the infielder.
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Clarke Schmidt, who allowed two runs (on a two-run homer from Masataka Yoshida) in 5 ²/₃ innings, is the third pitcher in Yankees history to let up three runs or fewer in each of his first 13 starts of a season.
Schmidt’s ERA is 2.41.
About an hour before the first pitch, the Red Sox announced Fitts would make his second career start because Houck experienced shoulder fatigue.
The righty, a sixth-round pick of the Yankees in 2021 who was included in the offseason trade that netted Verdugo, shut down the Yankees for five innings in which he allowed two hits and walked three.
Righty prospect Clayton Beeter, who returned last week from a shoulder injury that had kept him shelved since mid-May, was transferred from Double-A Somerset to Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre.
Beeter had thrown three scoreless innings with five strikeouts in two outings with Somerset.
