Jasson Domínguez, 20, became the youngest Yankees player to homer in his first career at-bat when he blasted a two-run shot off Houston ace Justin Verlander on Friday night.
HOUSTON — New York Yankees manager Aaron Boone vividly remembers the poise and confidence 16-year-old Jasson Domínguez displayed when he watched him take batting practice at the team’s academy in the Dominican Republic in 2019.
«Right then he got your attention,» Boone said. «It was like, it’s a 16-year-old kid [and] you see the skill set right in front of you. He had that kind of easy smile to him, handles himself really well.»
Domínguez wowed everyone Friday night, hitting a two-run homer off Houston ace Justin Verlander in his first major league at-bat, an early highlight in New York’s 6-2 win.
At just 20 years, 206 days old, Domínguez became the youngest Yankees player to homer in his first game. He was the first Yankees player to go deep in his initial big league at-bat since Aaron Judge on Aug. 13, 2016.
Additionally, it was just the second time a player homered off a reigning Cy Young Award winner in his first at-bat, according to ESPN Stats & Information. The other was Marcus Thames — also for the Yankees — on June 10, 2002, off Randy Johnson.
After Domínguez swatted his opposite-field home run to the short porch in left off a three-time Cy Young Award winner twice his age, TV cameras panned to his family, who screamed and jumped around after watching the ball leave the yard for a 3-0 lead in the first inning.
Four years after Boone saw him taking batting practice as a teenager, the highly touted prospect was a huge hit in his big league debut. The switch-hitting outfielder and another promising youngster, catcher Austin Wells, were called up from the minors by the last-place Yankees when rosters expanded Friday.
