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By Peter Chawaga
Contributing Sports Writer
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The New York Yankees have seized control of the top wild card spot in the American League playoff race and are knocking at the door of a division title after a strong turnaround.
The team has won five of its last seven games, including series with the rival Toronto Blue Jays and Boston Red Sox. But even if the team climbs all the way to the top of the division, some key players might look back on the campaign with a bit of disappointment.
Though not as harsh as the regressions from Anthony Volpe and Devin Williams, a step back for rookie Jasson Dominguez can rank among the poor developments for the year.
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Dominguez has long been one of the sport's most hyped sluggers and he logged an astounding .667 slugging percentage in his first cup of coffee in the big leagues. But across his debut season, he is slashing just .257/.331/.389 with some questionable outfield defense and struggles as a switch-hitter. As a result, he's losing playing time as the games become more important.
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"A natural center fielder, he is still a work in progress in left field, and his right-handed at-bats haven't been nearly as good as his left-handed ones," Randy Miller wrote for NJ.com. "While not down on Dominguez, manager Aaron Boone simply wants his best players in the lineup during a pennant stretch."
As Dominguez falls a bit short of the hype this season, though, he received an encouraging message from veteran teammate Cody Bellinger. When asked about Dominguez's struggles on defense, Bellinger noted that shortcomings could be critical in the rookie's development toward stardom.
"I think for myself, you learn through failure," Bellinger said, per Miller. "I failed a ton of times wherever I was at in the outfield or at first base. You've just got to learn from the failure."
Though Dominguez might have once hoped for a more seamless transition to the big leagues, the Yankees aren't hitting the panic button over some relative failures in his first season. It seems he will have ample opportunities to play, even if that isn't the case for the rest of this season.
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