It was a silver lining in an otherwise moribund Yankees season.
Jasson Dominguez, a 20-year-old prospect with high expectations, was called up and proceeded to homer off of future Hall of Fame Astros pitcher Justin Verlander in his first at-bat in the big leagues in Houston on Friday night.
YES Network caught a glimpse of Dominguez’s family after the special moment, and they were justifiably going nuts.
Michael Kay narrated, “His dad Felix, his mom Dorca, the rest of his family, and they are just ecstatic. Incredible. Just incredible. They will remember that moment for the rest of their days. And the hope is it’s the beginning of a long big-league career.”
Dominguez, who was 1-for-4, signed with the Yankees out of the Dominican Republic in 2019 on a contract that included a franchise-record, $5.1 million signing bonus.
He has taken the fast track to the majors as two weeks ago, he was in Double-A.
“I knew it was going to be a lot of different feelings, finally stepping on the field … my dream coming true right in front of me,” Dominguez told reporters through an interpreter Friday night.
“I was able to connect for that hit and it ended up being a homer, so my mind was flying away.”
In what is hopefully a sign of things to come for Yankees fans, Dominguez was the first Yankee to hit a home run in his first MLB at-bat since Aaron Judge did it in 2016.
Jasson Dominguez’s family went wild after he hit a home run for the Yankees against the Astros. YES Network
Jasson Dominguez rounds the bases after homering in his first career at-bat. Getty Images“Impressive,” Judge said. “Especially coming here, loud ballpark, facing a future Hall-of-Famer. For him to go up there and do that on the first swing he takes in the majors leagues, it was amazing.”
“For him to go up there and his first swing, first ball he puts in play is a driven ball to the opposite field, that’s impressive,” Judge continued.
