Raul Dominguez is likely a name you’re familiar with if you’ve followed Yankees minor league action at any point in the last two decades. Originally signed by the Yankees as an international free agent in 2001, Dominguez has definitely paid his dues with the organization, and 2026 may prove to be the most exciting season of his nearly 25-year career as player and coach/manager.
Dominguez returns to Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre this season after a 3-year hiatus as the Double-A Somerset manager, but first he has to help Panamá win the World Baseball Classic. Panamá is in Pool A, based in San Juan, Puerto Rico against Canada, Colombia, Cuba, and host nation Puerto Rico.
In a sit-down interview with Raul Dominguez during Team Panama’s practice ahead of the scrimmage with the Yankees later today, he told me that “it’s very special just to represent the [Panamanian] national team in [the] WBC.” He added that he didn’t get the chance to play as a player since he had retired as a player in 2004 before it started up in 2006, but that this was his “first time having the opportunity as a coach. I’m very excited just to be part of the national team.”
Dominguez said that he “saw on the news that we’re gonna play the game here against the Yankees” and that “it’s hard to describe the feeling that I have because [I’ll] wear the uniform for the country that I’m from and play against the team that I’ve been [with] for 20 years. It’s something that is not gonna happen again. I’m so happy and I’m so blessed that I’m gonna have the opportunity to play with the [Panamanian] national team here in the Yankees’ stadium.”
As noted earlier, he will be in SWB with manager Shelley Duncan (another former Yankees farmhand) this season as their defensive/outfield coach, a role he held from 2021-2022, before becoming Somerset’s manager for three years. On getting “promoted” to Scranton: “it’s a new challenge for me. I’m excited just to go to Scranton and spend time with Shelley Duncan. I’m trying to learn a lot from him, and expectations are really high. I think it’s a good opportunity for me to be in Scranton this year.”
He continued, “So far these three weeks here in Spring Training in the big league camp… it’s been really good. I work with the outfield, the base running, with Luis Rojas, with Dan Fiorito in the infield and base running. It’s been [a] really, really good three weeks.”
Considering he will be a part of the Scranton team, I asked him of any prospects that stuck out, but mentioned how newly acquired outfielder Kenedy Corona had really impressed me with both his defensive and offensive skills. I noted that he is kind of like how Ismael Munguia (who will represent Nicaragua in the WBC) was at this point last Spring: he was an “under-the-radar” guy. Corona on the other hand did somewhat well with the Astros organization, batting .220/.308/.326/.635 in 121 games with a wRC+ of 71, similar offensive performance to that of Anthony Volpe, for example. However, this Spring, Corona is batting .250/.500/.1.000/1.500 with a wRC+ of 239. Of course, “it’s just Spring Training”, but it’s possible that the Yankees and their “nerds” have helped the nearly 26-year-old Venezuelan unlock something that the Astros didn’t see.
Dominguez told me that he watched a lot of Corona’s previous games in the off-season “as soon as he signed with the Yankees to see [if] he needed any help in the outfield, but so far it’s been really good”. He added that “one thing that I need to know about him is offensively. I mean, he’s been hitting the ball pretty well, and I think he’s gonna be a very interesting player in this organization.”
He also gave kudos to how well prospects like George Lombard Jr, Carlos Lagrange and Elmer Rodriguez, all previously under his tutelage in Somerset, have been performing this Spring, adding, “the way that they look right now, I’m excited to see those guys go to Somerset or Scranton, and at the end of the season, see those guys in the big leagues.”
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