Jasson Domínguez (; born February 7, 2003), nicknamed El Marciano or the Martian, is a Dominican professional baseball outfielder for the New York Yankees of Major League Baseball (MLB). He made his MLB debut in 2023.

Early life

Domínguez was born in Esperanza, a municipality of the

Valverde Province Valverde () is a province of the Dominican Republic. It was split from Santiago Province in 1959. It is in the northwestern part of the country. Its capital city is Santa Cruz de Mao. It was created on 1959. It was a municipality of the Santia ...

in the Dominican Republic on February 7, 2003. He is the second of six children born to Félix Domínguez and Dorca González. Félix is a former baseball player and a fan of the New York Yankees of Major League Baseball (MLB). Félix named his son after Yankees first baseman Jason Giambi. Domínguez began to train for a career in baseball at the age of eight. He signed with trainer Iván Noboa at age 13. Domínguez played as a catcher before transitioning into a

center fielder A center fielder, abbreviated CF, is the outfielder in baseball who plays defense in center field – the baseball and softball fielding position between left field and right field. In the numbering system used to record defensive plays, the c ...

. He is considered to be a five-tool player. During his training, someone referred to him as "El Marciano", Spanish for "the Martian", because his talent was not of this world. Several workout videos that he posted on social media went

viral Viral means "relating to viruses" (small infectious agents). Viral may also refer to: Viral behavior, or virality Memetic behavior likened that of a virus, for example: * Viral marketing, the use of existing social networks to spread a marke ...

, earning him comparisons to Mickey Mantle, Bo Jackson, and

Mike Trout Michael Nelson Trout (born August 7, 1991) is an American professional baseball center fielder for the Los Angeles Angels of Major League Baseball (MLB). Trout is a ten-time MLB All-Star, three-time American League (AL) Most Valuable Player (MVP) ...

Baseball career

Minor leagues

Domínguez was ranked as the top

prospect Prospect may refer to: General * Prospect (marketing), a marketing term describing a potential customer * Prospect (sports), any player whose rights are owned by a professional team, but who has yet to play a game for the team * Prospect (mining ...

eligible to sign with an MLB team in the 2019–2020 international class. He signed with the Yankees for a franchise record $5.1 million

signing bonus A signing bonus or sign-on bonus is a sum of money paid to a new employee (including a professional sports person) by a company as an incentive to join that company. They are often given as a way of making a compensation package more attractive ...

on July 2, 2019, receiving the majority of the Yankees' $5.4 million total allotment for international signings for the year. He did not play in 2020 due to the cancellation of the minor league baseball season resulting from the COVID-19 pandemic, and instead trained at a baseball academy in Santiago. Domínguez began the 2021 season in

extended spring training Spring training is the preseason in Major League Baseball (MLB), a series of practices and exhibition games preceding the start of the regular season. Spring training allows new players to try out for Schedule (workplace), roster and position spo ...

. In June, he made his professional baseball debut with the

Florida Complex League Yankees The Florida Complex League Yankees are a Rookie-level affiliate of the New York Yankees, competing in the Florida Complex League of Minor League Baseball. The team is composed mainly of players who are in their first year of professional basebal ...

of the Rookie-level Florida Complex League. He was selected to represent the Yankees in the 2021

All-Star Futures Game The All-Star Futures Game is an annual baseball exhibition game hosted by Major League Baseball (MLB) in conjunction with the mid-summer MLB All-Star Game. A team of American League-affiliated prospects competes against a team of National League ...

. Domínguez became the first prospect to appear in the All-Star Futures Game without having played a full-season in the minor league. The Yankees promoted Domínguez to the Tampa Tarpons of the Low-A Southeast League after the Futures Game; he had batted 4-for-20 (.200) with six

strikeout In baseball or softball, a strikeout (or strike-out) occurs when a batter accumulates three strikes during a time at bat. It usually means that the batter is out. A strikeout is a statistic recorded for both pitchers and batters, and is deno ...

s and six walks in the Florida Complex League. Domínguez batted .258 with five home runs and 18 runs batted in (RBIs) in 49

games played Games played (GP) is a statistic used in team sports to indicate the total number of games in which a player has participated (in any capacity); the statistic is generally applied irrespective of whatever portion of the game is contested. Basebal ...

. Domínguez began the 2022 season with Tampa. He appeared in the 2022 All-Star Futures Game, and was then promoted to the Hudson Valley Renegades of the High-A South Atlantic League. When Hudson Valley's season ended, the Yankees promoted Domínguez to the Somerset Patriots of the Double-A Eastern League for their last few regular season games and their postseason. In 2023, the Yankees invited Domínguez to

spring training Spring training is the preseason in Major League Baseball (MLB), a series of practices and exhibition games preceding the start of the regular season. Spring training allows new players to try out for Schedule (workplace), roster and position spo ...

as a non-roster player and assigned him to Somerset to begin the season. The Yankees promoted him to the Scranton/Wilkes-Barre RailRiders of the Triple–A

International League The International League (IL) is a Minor League Baseball league that operates in the United States. Along with the Pacific Coast League, it is one of two leagues playing at the Triple-A level, which is one grade below Major League Baseball ...

on August 22. After the season, he won the

Eastern League Top MLB Prospect Award The Eastern League Top MLB Prospect Award is an annual award given to the best rookie player in Minor League Baseball's Eastern League based on their regular-season performance as voted on by league managers. Broadcasters, Minor League Baseball ...

New York Yankees

On September 1, 2023, the Yankees promoted Domínguez to the major leagues. He made his major league debut that day against the

Houston Astros The Houston Astros are an American professional baseball team based in Houston, Texas. The Astros compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) West division, having moved to the division in 2013 after ...

and hit a home run off the first swing in his first

at bat In baseball, an at bat (AB) or time at bat is a batter's turn batting against a pitcher. An at bat is different from a plate appearance. A batter is credited with a plate appearance regardless of what happens during their turn at bat, but a batt ...

against Justin Verlander. With that home run, Domínguez became the youngest player in team history to hit a home run in his major league debut and surpassed

Whitey Lockman Carroll Walter "Whitey" Lockman (July 25, 1926 – March 17, 2009) was a left-handed hitting first baseman and outfielder, coach, manager and front office executive in Major League Baseball. Playing career Born in Lowell, North Carolina, Lockman ...

as the youngest in MLB history to do so in their first plate appearance. He hit four home runs in eight games. On September 10, Domínguez was diagnosed with a torn ulnar collateral ligament, requiring

Tommy John surgery Ulnar collateral ligament reconstruction, colloquially known as Tommy John surgery (TJS), is a surgical graft procedure where the ulnar collateral ligament in the medial elbow is replaced with either a tendon from elsewhere in the patient's bo ...

, ending his season 9 days after promotion. Domínguez began the 2024 season on the 60-day injured list to continue recovery from elbow surgery. After a rehabilitation assignment began in May, the Yankees activated Domínguez from the injured list and optioned him to Scranton/Wilkes-Barre on June 12. However, on June 20, manager Aaron Boone announced that Domínguez would be out up to eight weeks after suffering a "pretty significant" oblique strain. On August 18, 2024, Domínguez was selected as the 27th man for the

Little League Classic The MLB Little League Classic is an annual Major League Baseball (MLB) game held in Williamsport, Pennsylvania, first played during the 2017 Little League World Series. The series is part of MLB's effort to get more children interested in and i ...

game and was in the starting lineup.

References

External links