Yankees' Jasson Dominguez injured after crashing into outfield wall in win over Rangers

Jasson Dominguez’s career has been defined by tough breaks, and Thursday afternoon unfortunately presented another one.

Dominguez suffered a low-grade AC sprain in his left shoulder that will require an injured-list stint that “could be a few weeks,” Aaron Boone said after the Yankees’ 9-2 win over the Rangers at the Stadium.

Dominguez was injured on the first play of the game when he crashed into the leftfield wall while making a terrific catch. Boone added that concussion tests were negative to that point and “we’ll obviously continue to monitor that.”

According to a source, the Yankees are expected to call up 2022 first-round pick Spencer Jones — who has a .258/.366/.592 slash line, 11 homers and 41 RBIs, the most in baseball (MLB and minors), with Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre this season — for his MLB debut.

In the game’s first at-bat, former Met Brandon Nimmo laced a 101-mph, 375-foot line drive to leftfield. Dominguez took a good route to the ball and made a spectacular catch as he smashed into the wall, which has a chain-link fence protecting electronic advertisements. He hit the wall hard with his head and left shoulder, with his sunglasses and hat flying off in opposite directions, and was able to hold on to the ball as he lay face-down on the warning track.

“That’s one of the unfortunate parts of the game,” Boone said. “Amazing catch, obviously, and obviously hit the wall pretty hard. So hopefully we’re in a good space, just head-wise. And then hopefully this is something that doesn’t keep him out too long.”

Jasson Dominguez makes a tremendous catch but leaves the game on a cart after hitting the wall HARD

Ryan McMahon enters the game at 3B, Amed Rosario goes from 3B to RF and Cody Bellinger goes from RF to LF pic.twitter.com/OkaTwAUvtC

— Talkin' Yanks (@TalkinYanks) May 7, 2026

Dominguez was down for several minutes before exiting the game on a medical cart. YES Network cameras caught an emotional Dominguez leaving the field, and he underwent an MRI at NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital during the game.

Despite having a strong spring training, the 23-year-old started the season with Scranton/Wilkes-Barre and has been back with the big-league club since April 27. He entered Thursday’s game — his ninth start of the season and second in leftfield, with most of his duties coming at designated hitter in place of the injured Giancarlo Stanton — batting .200 (6-for-30) with a .617 OPS, a home run and four RBIs.

Thursday was the second time in Dominguez’s nine games this season that he exited with an injury, and both were against the Rangers. On April 29 in Texas, Nathan Eovaldi hit him in the left elbow with an 89.1-mph cutter. The Yankees said that injury was a contusion. He missed only one game as he was back in the lineup three days later.

“The Martian” has long been the nickname to describe the other-worldly raw talent of Dominguez, who signed with the Yankees for a franchise-record $5.1 million in July 2019 as a 16-year-old in the Dominican Republic. He is in his fourth MLB season, though he played only eight games in 2023 and 18 in 2024 as he rebounded from Tommy John surgery.

“Gosh, he’s just such a good kid,” Boone said. “There’s a joy he kind of walks to every day no matter what’s going on. He’s very consistent in who he is. They love him in there. We’ve talked a lot recently about just how well he’s handled his situation here over the last four and five months.

“Another layer, as well as being a really good guy and a good teammate . . . What’s that shirt he wears in spring? [It says] ‘Be a good person.’ I mean, he kind of embodies that the way he goes about it every day, no matter what’s going on.”

Given recent history, Dominguez knows just how quickly things can change.

“Getting sent down and being up there, it’s a good reminder that — don’t take this for granted,” he told Newsday before Thursday’s game. He added: “You never want to go back down. I’m just trying to do my best every day to keep myself up here.”

Dominguez’s defense has been an oft-criticized aspect of his game, though the catch he made Thursday came on a batted ball with an expected batting average of .580. He recorded negative-9 outs above average last season, ranking in the third percentile in MLB, according to Baseball Savant.

Yankees third base and outfield coach Luis Rojas had been working closely with Dominguez on his defense. He told Newsday before Thursday’s game that he has “100%” seen defensive improvement and credited Scranton-Wilkes Barre defensive coach Raul Dominguez.

Rojas also lauded the outfielder for how he carries himself, especially considering he did not make the team out of spring training.

“Him not making the big-league team after being a full year with the big-league team, I think he handled it really well,” Rojas said. “ . . . You think that a kid his age, his talent is going to be successful in the future.”

Notes & quotes:  Righthander Brendan Beck, 27, the Yankees’ 2021 second-round selection, made his MLB debut. He was charged with two runs and allowed two hits and three walks in three innings-plus . . . Ben Rice (bruised left hand) missed a fourth straight game, but Boone does not think it will require an IL stint . . . Jose Caballero, who was hit in the left elbow by a pitch Wednesday, entered at shortstop in the eighth Thursday.

By Ben Dickson

benjamin.dickson@newsday.com@bendickson__

Ben Dickson is Newsday Sports' general assignment reporter. He joined Newsday’s high school sports staff in 2023 after graduating from Maryland, where he covered several of the Terrapins' teams.