Yankees' Jasson Dominguez to hit IL with shoulder sprain

New York Yankees left fielder Jasson Dominguez sustained a low-grade AC sprain in his left shoulder in a collision with the auxiliary scoreboard in Thursday afternoon's 9-2 victory over the visiting Texas Rangers.

The team announced after the game that concussion tests were negative at the time on Dominguez, who exited after the play in the first inning. He also had an MRI exam, which revealed the injury to his left shoulder. Dominguez, who also is in concussion protocol, will be placed on the injured list, with manager Aaron Boone saying he will miss "a few weeks."

Dominguez raced back to the warning track and crashed into the chain-link portion of the scoreboard as he fell to complete a catch off the bat of leadoff hitter Brandon Nimmo. Head athletic trainer Tim Lentych addressed Dominguez for several minutes while Boone looked on.

"That's one of the unfortunate parts of the game, an amazing catch, obviously, and obviously hit the wall pretty hard," Boone said after the game. "So, hopefully, we're in a good space head wise and, hopefully, this is something that doesn't keep him out too long."

After Dominguez was carted off, the Yankees made three defensive changes. Cody Bellinger moved from right field to left field, Amed Rosario switched from third base to right field and Ryan McMahon entered at third base.

Boone addressed the possibility of outfield prospect Spencer Jones being called up from Triple-A Scranton-Wilkes-Barre to replace Dominguez.

"He's put himself in the mix," Boone said. "It doesn't mean that's the way we'll go. We've got to talk about it, but the signs have been encouraging."

Jones, who turns 25 on May 14, was a first-round pick (25th overall) by the Yankees in the 2022 MLB Draft out of Vanderbilt. He is batting .258 with 11 home runs and 41 RBIs in 33 games at Scranton/Wilkes-Barre. He is ranked the organization's No. 9 prospect by MLB Pipeline.

Nicknamed "The Martian" after inking a $5.1 million bonus during the July 2019 international signing period, Dominguez debuted with the Yankees in September 2023. He hit four homers in eight games before tearing a ligament in his throwing elbow that required Tommy John surgery.

After not appearing for the Yankees until the final month of 2024, Dominguez transitioned to left field last season. He struggled at times after moving from center field and played 100 games in left while hitting .257 with 10 homers and 47 RBIs in 123 games.

Dominguez did not make the team out of spring training and was hitting .326 with three homers and 15 RBIs in 24 games for Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes Barre before getting called up April 27.

Dominguez, 23, was 6-for-30 with a homer and four RBIs in eight games entering play on Thursday.

--Field Level Media