Yankees fans cannot be taking more Jasson Dominguez defensive struggles lightly

"It's only spring training" should exclusively apply to established veterans, injured players on the mend, and developing prospects. Everybody else falls under the "competition" window, and that's the reality, whether fans agree or not.

So when it comes to Jasson Dominguez, the Yankees top prospect who has been seemingly slotted into the starting left field job must alleviate all concerns over his defense after last year's debacle that forced Alex Verdugo into far too many big moments.

Dominguez battled injuries last season, and then logged just 58 games following Tommy John surgery, in addition to an oblique injury, before rejoining the big-league roster. But his 18-game stint was marred by defensive miscues, a .179 batting average, .617 OPS and 19 strikeouts.

But again, he was just a 21-year-old coming off serious injuries looking to get back up to speed — and in left field, no less, where he's logged just 58 games in his minor league career compared to 239 in center field.

That (hopefully) meant he shook off any rust and was ready to arrive to Tampa and put the concerns in the rearview. But after the first weekend of play, Dominguez has not quieted any of those concerns. He botched a grounder to the outfield in the team's opener on Friday and then had some more issues on Sunday.

Yankees' defensive concerns with Jasson Dominguez are very real, regardless of what fans think

Again, spring training is not a playground for professionals to mess around with making routine defensive plays. That should come naturally. If one needs to "get up to speed", that's usually in reference to a batter getting used to seeing high-end pitching for the first time in months, or pitchers rebuilding their arm strength to maximize velocity and focus on their longevity. As for potential defensive issues, that can apply to those playing an entirely new position or making an incredibly unfamiliar switch.

It's not for ground balls, fly balls, hitting the cutoff man, taking batting practice or anything else you'd classify as "something you should be doing in your sleep" for somebody who has professional experience in said specific role. You cannot bobble a grounder in your first appearance in the field. You cannot lose a ball in the sun two days later. And no matter how difficult of a play this might have been, the way Dominguez approached the ball made it look like he took a poor angle or got a bad break off the bat. (His glove was not even CLOSE to the ball.)

We understand it's the first weekend of action. We are not predicting doom. But we are saying that this should not be taken lightly, no matter how early it is. The outfield is not a foreign concept to Dominguez. Left field has been his second-most played position throughout his career. There should not be this many issues in the early going, plain and simple.

Whether fans like it or not, his defensive progress will be heavily tracked and scrutinized, given all the problems the Yankees have dealt with in left field ever since Brett Gardner's departure. It's on Dominguez to fulfill arguably the easiest part of his job for the magnifying glass to zoom out.