The New York Yankees have their flaws, but they sit with the best record in MLB after somewhat coming out of the slump that they entered in June and July. The Yankees are now ahead of the Baltimore Orioles in the American League East, but only slightly and it will likely be a neck-and-neck race for the division title.
The Yankees likely will not be one of those teams that can take it easy the last few weeks of the regular season, resting key players as they sit with a secure spot. The division could come down to the final week of the regular season, which includes a three-game series between the Yankees and Orioles that will take place in the Bronx.
Due to the tight division race, the Yankees will have to squeeze every possible win that they can out of this roster down the stretch. There will have to be some improvements from people already on the roster, like Marcus Stroman or Gleyber Torres, as they both have looked better as of late. The hope is that those performances can be sustained, but there are some obvious roster moves that the Yankees can make in the next month and a half to maximize their chances of winning.
Let's get to the two players the Yankees should promote to help with their stretch run to the playoffs.
Jasson Dominguez, OF
The obvious move is to call up Jasson Dominguez and put him in left field, replacing a struggling Alex Verdugo (Verdugo has a .233/.294./.363 slash line on the year). He is the top prospect in the Yankees' system and flashed his immense upside in about a week of playing time in 2023 before learning that he needed Tommy John surgery. Jasson Dominguez returned to action earlier this season before suffering an oblique injury. After returning to action recently, the Yankees called up Dominguez as the 27th man for the Little League Classic, but only for that game.
Dominguez was inserted into the No. 5 spot in the Yankees' lineup, confirming that the Yankees feel comfortable hitting him in the middle of the order. As with other top prospects, service time comes into play with Dominguez, and it seems clear why they are holding off.
There are two components to take into account with Dominguez. First is the service time, as if the Yankees wait long enough, they can get an extra year of control. The next is his rookie status for 2025. If Dominguez plays below a certain amount of games or plate appearances in 2024, his rookie status is preserved for 2025, and the Yankees could get a draft pick if he wins the Rookie of the Year award in the American League.
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After those dates pass, the Yankees should undoubtedly call up Dominguez and have him as their every day left fielder. At the very latest, Dominguez should be up when rosters expand in September.
Caleb Durbin, 2B
This is less of an obvious call for the Yankees, as Gleyber Torres has performed well as of late, Jazz Chisholm Jr. is going to return at some point, and Oswald Peraza got the call to the bigs in the meantime, but Caleb Durbin could be helpful for New York in certain scenarios.
If Torres or someone like Oswaldo Cabrera struggle, there could be a spot for Caleb Durbin, who is batting .286 with a .411 on-base percentage and a .856 OPS in the minor leagues this season, according to milb.com. The Yankees have some question marks in the infield, and they have to figure out who is going to start in the playoffs. Maybe it is worth seeing what Durbin can do at some point down the stretch this season.
