Jasson Dominguez already working hard to learn leftfield, and Yankees are optimistic about him

TAMPA, Fla. — Yankees position players will  report for spring training on Sunday, with the first full-squad workout to follow on Monday.

And the player who will be in the spotlight as much as anyone is  Jasson Dominguez.

The prospect, unrelentingly hyped pretty much from the time the Yankees  gave the 16-year-old out of the Dominican Republic a franchise-record $5.1 million signing bonus in 2019, is going to be given every opportunity to win the starting job in leftfield during the Grapefruit League season.

“Ultimately there’s a lane for him to take, and we know he’s got the talent to take it,” general manager Brian Cashman said on Friday.

There are few questions about the 22-year-old’s talent, but there are about his defense.

Primarily a centerfielder during his meteoric rise through the minor leagues, he generally was rated as an average fielder and, at times, above average by opposing team scouts.

But that was not the case late last season when Dominguez — who missed most of the year while recovering from Tommy John surgery and a subsequent oblique strain suffered shortly after he was cleared in June and began playing in the minors — struggled defensively in left. It was for that reason that the Yankees, with much of the fan base clamoring for Dominguez, went with Alex Verdugo during their postseason run that ended in Game 5 of the World Series against the Dodgers.

And so, in order for the switch-hitting Dominguez to win the job, he’ll have to show in the coming weeks that he can handle the still-unfamiliar position. He doesn’t have to be Brett Gardner there, but he can’t be a liability, either.

“We’ve tried to simulate everything that he’s going to run into in leftfield. He’s handled it really well in the field,” said third-base coach Luis Rojas, who also coaches the Yankees outfielders and has been working with Dominguez for the last two weeks at the club’s minor-league complex here.

“We’re going to challenge him, and he wants to be challenged. At the end of the day, we want him in games. That’s going to be the real deal. The spring training games are going to play a big role. We’re encouraged about it because we know it’s going to make him better either way. He’s an outstanding athlete, he’s got a great attitude toward things. I think inevitably he’s going to get better.”

Rojas said he doesn’t see any reason Dominguez can’t become a solid leftfielder and even a good one in time.

“His speed. Legs are the No. 1 in the outfield,” he said. “Every outfielder, the majority of the outfielders, they need the speed as their best tool for defense, and he has that. He can run, we all know that. His athleticism is really good, he can change direction . . .  I don’t have any doubt at all that he’s going to do a good job.”

Said Cashman: “He’s obviously still young in this game, and he missed a good portion of last season . . . So it’s good to get him back out and up and running. We’re looking forward to seeing a real quality player on both sides of the ball, and we think he can help us. And he’s got an opportunity to prove he can help us.”