Yankees prospect Jasson Dominguez homers against the Astros in September 2023. Photo by Bob Levey via Getty Images
The next generation of Baby Bombers have made their entrance in a big way.
In what has largely been a lost season full of injuries, shortcomings, and disappointments, the Yankees made headlines this weekend in Houston. Realizing the severity of the hole they dug themselves in, that is the 2023 season, the Yankees decided to call up the kids. Young prospects such as catcher Austin Wells and Jasson “The Martian” Dominguez made their debuts against the Astros. And they did not disappoint.
On Friday night, Jasson launched a two-run shot into the Crawford Boxes during his first career at-bat. His first Major League swing culminated in the Yankees’ 6-2 win against the Astros that night. Austin Wells also got his first career hit in that game. The Yankees would go on to win the next two games by scores of 5-4 and 6-1, respectively.
The Yankees arrived in Houston (some say via Dominguez’s Martian UFO) and took care of business. They handed the Astros a home sweep, the first time the Yankees did that in Houston in ten years. For the Astros, a team that is smack in the middle of a playoff hunt where every game matters, it was surely disappointing.
The Yankees are playing out the 2023 season not for the present, but for the future. They are almost surely not making the playoffs this year, so for them to come into the defending champions’ building and do damage, is surely a blow to the Astros’ fortitude. With the new kids on the roster, the Yanks suddenly became statistically one of the youngest teams in the majors.
“It’s really cool to be in here and it was a really big group effort to get three wins here,” Austin Wells said after the game.
“[Dominguez has] lived up to every ounce of hype that I heard,” said pitcher Michael King. “I heard he was otherworldly and he comes out here and just dominates. I was more impressed with just his poise.”
The Astros currently sit at 77-61, one game behind the Mariners for the AL West division title. Meanwhile, the Texas Rangers, who have struggled recently, are right on their tail. With those teams playing each other down the stretch, the race for the division will get hairy. Meanwhile, the Yankees are all but done in 2023, but the recent spark the kids have provided may bode well for them in 2024.
