Yankees' Jasson Dominguez rips oppo homer off Justin Verlander on first MLB swing

Even storybooks would be like, "Nope."

When the New York Yankees promoted 20-year-old Jasson Dominguez and 2020 first-rounder Austin Wells to join their youth movement this week, it was easy to scorn the late-season move as "too soon" -- especially for the $5 million teen. Wouldn't there be some potential collateral damage from debuting in a hostile environment in Houston? Especially in the middle of a lost season?

Well ... Houston, it's only the first inning, but you already have a problem.

Dominguez, batting fifth, stepped to the plate after Giancarlo Stanton worked a two-out walk. He took a classic Justin Verlander hook on the outside corner to start things off, almost taking a moment to watch and realize he was now more than just a viewer.

Then, on his first big-league cut, he effortlessly deposited a Verlander heater into the Crawford Boxes.

Yankees top prospect Jasson Dominguez homers on first big-league swing

The last Yankees to homer in their big-league debuts? Well, that would be Aaron Judge and Tyler Austin, of course. They did it back-to-back in Summer '16, on the day the Yankees honored the 1996 World Champions and turned the page to a budding new core.

It won't always be this easy. There will be moments of doubt, likely before the end of this game (especially considering the setting). There will be nights this September when everything settles down for a bit and the overall tenor surrounding the team takes hold yet again. Adding Dominguez, Wells, Everson Pereira and Oswald Peraza doesn't erase a 10-game deficit. There will be an unfortunate moment at home when this group hears wayward boos, and they're forced to wonder what they did wrong.

But, on Friday, in the first opportunity he got to deliver in a pressure cooker, Dominguez didn't flinch. He didn't choke up. He didn't swing from his heels. He did what he's always done, what brought his average to .419 at Triple-A, and what piqued the Yankees' considerable interest in the first place. And his family was there, as they've been for two decades.

The moment will never be as fresh as it is now. But, rest assured, you'll be seeing it plenty of times from here on out.