Domínguez's impact felt in High-A debut

It was a new level of the atmosphere for The Martian, but he appeared to be right at home.

Jasson Domínguez made his High-A debut with the Renegades and wasted no time making his impact felt as he collected two hits -- including a game-tying homer with two outs in the ninth -- walked, stole a base and scored three times in Hudson Valley's 6-5 loss to Wilmington in 10 innings at Frawley Stadium.

The 19-year-old, who mashed a mammoth, game-tying two-run home run in the All-Star Futures Game last Saturday, was promoted to High-A earlier that day. He posted a .265/.373/.440 slash line with nine dingers, two triples, 17 doubles, 54 runs scored, 36 RBIs and 19 stolen bases over 75 games with Single-A Tampa to start the year.

"I had him all of last year in the Florida Complex League, so I know Jasson pretty well and he came up today and handled expectations," Renegades skipper Tyson Blaser said. "He just did what he does. He went out there and played hard and played with a smile on his face. He loves to play the game and you can see it on his face every day."

Against the Blue Rocks, the third-ranked Yankees prospect batted leadoff and saw six pitches in his first at-bat before swinging through a high fastball for strike three. After popping out to short in the third, the switch-hitter led off the sixth with a single through the left side of the infield on the first pitch of the at-bat. After advancing to second on a groundout by Trey Sweeney, the speedy center fielder was plated on a throwing error later in the frame by Leandro Emiliani to put Hudson Valley on the board.

"I didn't think there were any jitters for him tonight," Blaser said. "He just shows up every day and goes about his business. He's the same guy day in and day out. Everything is always business as usual with him."

After a four-pitch walk to lead off the eighth, MLB.com's No. 39 overall prospect advanced to second on another walk from Sweeney. The pair executed a double steal later in the frame, and on a wild pitch by Carlos Romero, Domínguez scampered home to score the Renegades second run, and pull the club to within 5-2 and ignite a three-run frame.

In his final plate appearance, the 5-foot-10, 190-pounder represented his club's final hope. Down a run with the bases empty and two outs in the ninth, Domínguez delivered as he turned around a 3-0 heater and clubbed a moonshot beyond the wall in right-center field to tie the game at five apiece.

"That was a really great moment for him right off the bat here," Blaser said. "The whole team was happy for him and that gave us life and got us to the 10th. There's two outs in the ninth there, not an easy spot, but he showed a lot of fight and he capped the comeback for us and gave us a chance. It was great.

"His maturation at the plate is evident right away. That's the first thing I noticed about him in terms of where he was last year. He's handling the bat really well and handling the zone well. The staff in Tampa, Rachel [Balkovec] and [hitting coach] Kevin [Martir] have done a really nice job of bringing him along. So hopefully we'll be able to do the same here."

One of the most hyped international prospects ever, Domínguez signed for $5.1 million out of the Dominican Republic in July 2019 after drawing comparisons to the likes of Bo Jackson, Mickey Mantle and Mike Trout. Also known as "The Martian" because of his out-of-this-world tools, he had his pro debut delayed when the coronavirus pandemic wiped out the 2020 Minor League season. He spent most of 2021 in Single-A Southeast, not dominating but holding his own as the circuit's second-youngest position player, and participated in his first SiriusXM All-Star Futures Game.

The switch-hitter generates tremendous bat speed from both sides of the plate and did more damage left-handed in his debut. He has prodigious raw power and produces high-end exit velocities, especially for a teenager.