Trent Grisham injury gives Jasson Domínguez a short-lived Yankees gift

When Aaron Boone said of Trent Grisham's hobble off the field and down into the tunnel Friday night, “It seems like an injury," that should've set off loud alarm bells. Boone, the king of downplays, daring to acknowledge that a player actually is banged up? It became instantly clear Grisham would need an IL stint and potentially an amputation.

Grisham hitting the pine on Saturday afternoon wasn't surprising, but the direction the Yankees went in to replace him actually might raise a few eyebrows. Instead of promoting Max Schuemann as a jack-of-all-trades stopgap, they elevated Jasson Domínguez for his first MLB action since the trade deadline addition of Heliot Ramos.

Aaron Judge will likely replace Jasson Domínguez, but The Martian earned a wild Yankees weekend in San Diego

The Yankees' ideal alignment down the stretch includes Aaron Judge in right field, Spencer Jones in center, and Cody Bellinger in left - and only one IL move instead of two would seem to indicate that Bellinger plans to shake things off after lacing a ball off his own shin (and playing through it) on Friday.

Judge took batting practice on the field Friday evening, and appears to still be targeting the Yankees' next homestand (Sept. 8 against the Rockies, Sept. 9-11 against the Mets) for his glorious return after missing the entire summer. The Yankees used their expanded roster spots on Ryan McMahon and John Schreiber, and probably don't intend to mess with the edges of their roster. That means Domínguez is highly likely to go back down after a two-game cameo on the bench, unless Judge suffers some form of setback.

Domínguez hasn't been as scorching hot at Triple-A as our old friend Anthony Volpe has - it's not easy being a Quad-A player! Still, he's riding an abbreviated September heater - 6-for-15 with a home run - after batting .222 with 24 strikeouts in 29 games in August. Hopes are not high for a high-ceiling offensive performance, which makes it all the more perplexing that the versatile Schumann wasn't the temporary choice.

Domínguez can play center in a pinch, and may be asked to do so. Beyond that, he probably won't get a very comprehensive leash here as the Yankees jockey for playoff positioning on the west coast. There are worse things than a short trip to San Diego with low expectations, though.

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