Jason Dominguez is finding his way at Salem
MINOR LEAGUE SPOTLIGHT
Southern California has produced more than its share of major league players. In this space, we'll take a look at how Southland players are faring in the minors. This week: the Class-A Carolina League.
It has taken a while, but Jason Dominguez of the Salem Avalanche appears to have made the adjustment from the short-season Class-A New York-Penn League to the advanced Class-A Carolina League.
Dominguez, a right-handed reliever from Pepperdine who was the Houston Astros' 31st-round draft choice last year, recently had a string of 20 innings without yielding an earned run -- a span of 11 games.
The streak started May 29 in a 10-9 loss to Wilmington when he held the Blue Rocks hitless for two innings. Over those 20 innings, he gave up only 11 hits, walked five and struck out 10. He lowered his earned-run average to 2.86 from 5.25.
The streak ended July 3 at Lynchburg. Dominguez entered the game in the ninth inning to protect a 6-3 lead. Instead, he gave up four hits and three runs -- all scoring with two out. The tying run was doubled home by Jim Negrych, the league's leading hitter. The Hillcats went on to win, 7-6, in 12 innings. Dominguez also pitched the 10th and 11th innings, holding the Hillcats to one hit.
Dominguez had another rough outing Wednesday night when he lost to Myrtle Beach. He entered the game in the bottom of the seventh inning to protect a 5-3 lead. He got through the seventh, but the first three batters reached in the eighth (double, single, walk). Tyler Flowers then hit a grand slam to center, giving the Pelicans a 7-5 lead. It was the first home run yielded by Dominguez in 82 1/3 innings as a professional.
For the season, Dominguez, who shares the closer's role with Bryan Hallberg, is 2-4 with five saves and a 3.78 ERA. In 50 innings, he has yielded 43 hits while walking 15 and striking out 35. Opponents are batting .234 against him.
Dominguez, who was skipped over low Class-A Lexington of the South Atlantic League by the Astros, had a poor three-game stretch in the middle of May, yielding 10 hits and seven earned runs over 3 2/3 innings. He suffered his fourth blown save in seven opportunities on the 14th against Frederick, yielding three hits and two runs in the top of ninth as the Keys won, 3-2.
"We are asking a lot of him. He's going to have his ups and downs," Salem Manager Jim Pankovits told the Roanoke Times after the game.
Last season at Tri-City of the short-season New-York-Penn League, Dominguez was 2-0 with 10 saves and a 1.35 ERA. He would have had the league's best ERA, but he didn't have enough innings to qualify.
