WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. — There was a time when the Yankees might have envisioned a 2026 Yankee season with Jasson Domínguez and Spencer Jones both starting in the outfield, with Aaron Judge in right.
The reality, though, is that both young players have significantly more to prove before they get starting jobs in the majors, which is part of the reason why Trent Grisham received a qualifying offer this offseason and the Yankees signed Cody Bellinger to a new deal.
And to make matters worse for the young duo, they even brought in Randal Grichuk for a bench spot to add some right-handed depth to the roster.
But in Saturday’s 3-0 loss to the Nationals at CACTI Park of the Palm Beaches, Domínguez was in left and Jones in center, as the Yankees look at the two talented prospects who are almost certainly ticketed for Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre.
Domínguez was first unable to outperform Alex Verdugo in 2024 and then Grisham last year, as Grisham emerged as an offensive force.
And Jones has shown flashes of phenomenal power in the minors, but not the consistency to warrant a call-up to The Bronx.
Still, they have time to make an impression on the organization — and Aaron Boone — especially this weekend with an inexperienced lineup because of back-to-back games on the opposite side of the state and other players absent due to the WBC.
Boone said Saturday there have been encouraging signs from both Domínguez and Jones.
Of Jones, the manager said, “He’s done a nice job. He’s worked really hard this winter to make adjustments to try to hone his craft and had pretty good results here the first few weeks of games.”
He had a hard-hit single and stole second in the second inning Saturday.
Still, the 6-foot-7 Jones is coming off a season in which he whiffed 179 times in 506 plate appearances, an issue the Yankees remain hopeful will dissipate with more experience.
“Those are the challenges of being a big guy,’’ Boone said. “It’s a hard thing to figure out, but if you can do it, [that size is] a massive advantage.”
Judge is the best example of that, clearly. He turned 25 the year he set the rookie home run record in 2017.
Jones, the team’s first-round pick out of Vanderbilt in 2022, turns 25 in May.
“You’ve just got to figure out your mechanics,’’ Boone said of super-sized players. “It’s a challenging thing to do when you’re really big, but once you do, you have an advantage.”
That’s not what’s kept Domínguez back.
The switch-hitter has not blossomed from the right side yet — which helped lead to the Grichuk signing — and remains a work in progress in the outfield.
After Boone criticized some of his decision-making in the outfield Saturday, Domínguez threw out Washington’s José Tena, who was trying to stretch a single into a double in the third.
That’s not enough to unseat any of the starters — or Giancarlo Stanton at DH — but Boone said the situation hasn’t impacted Domínguez’s work.
“One of the things I appreciate about Jasson is how consistent a person he is,’’ Boone said. “He’s the same all the time. He has a good way about him. I’m not surprised, but I also think he continues to be a better pro. He’s done a good job.”
