Listen, I get why there’s hype surrounding Jasson Dominguez. He’s the #32 prospect in baseball at age 18. Jeff Passan just wrote this about him a week ago:
Here's something that Yankees fans may or may not like.
(OK, they are *really* going to like it.)
17-year-old Jasson Dominguez hit a ball 117 mph last week. Only four players in the major leagues did that in 2020. Just 11 did it in 2019.
Read more: https://t.co/jElhOI5GBO pic.twitter.com/QH7VaMGYix
— Jeff Passan (@JeffPassan) February 11, 2021
And, of course, there have been endless videos of him murdering baseballs in batting practice.
Now THAT is a sweet sound 👀🔥
Jasson Dominguez putting on a show.pic.twitter.com/az2Dc086hH
— YES Network (@YESNetwork) January 10, 2020
But the hype is officially too much. The New York Post tweeted this article out yesterday:
Yankees' Jasson Dominguez 'more advanced' than Mike Trout at same age https://t.co/VJsbPyRDzJ pic.twitter.com/h6pvKdwZBE
— New York Post (@nypost) February 16, 2021
What are we trying to accomplish here? This kid has not played one professional game yet. Is he a physical specimen that has loads of potential? Sure. But nothing good comes out of setting the bar with Trout, who is not only the best player in baseball right now, but someone who will go down as an all-time great. In addition to Trout, Dominguez has also been compared to the greatest switch-hitter of all-time in Mickey Mantle, and one of the best athletes ever in Bo Jackson.
Jasson Dominguez, who has been compared athletically to Bo Jackson, Mickey Mantle and Mike Trout, highlights the #Yankees' farm system: https://t.co/KY19R8JHsE pic.twitter.com/JgwZndwZ0y
— MLB Pipeline (@MLBPipeline) November 25, 2020
I get that it’s a clickbaity way to get Yankee fans excited about their top prospect, but these comparisons are seriously doing Dominguez a disservice. It’s at the point where this kid could become the next Bernie Williams, and still not live up to the hype. It’s not as if the Yankees are this brutally bad team where we have nothing to look forward to besides a prospect with a current ETA of 2024. Let’s just enjoy the team on the field and let Dominguez develop into whatever kind of player he’s going to be.
Sources are telling me Jasson Dominguez ate three slices of pizza last night, whereas Mike Trout was only eating two when he was 18
— Stanzo (@ncostanzo24) February 16, 2021