Apr. 7—BRIDGEWATER — For all his fanfare and maturity, it’s easy to forget sometimes that Jasson Dominguez still only just turned 20 years old two months ago.

Yet there the Dominican sat in the dugout at TD Bank Ballpark on the day before Somerset’s season opener Friday night, showing off yet another example of his hard work as an international player: the ability and willingness to conduct nearly an entire interview in English for the first time.

The Martian has landed in Somerset once again, and local fans better come catch a glimpse of the fivetool outfielder while they still can. It may not be long before Dominguez is in Triple- A — if not with the Yankees before the end of the season.

“My goal for this season is just stay healthy, control what I can control, and that’s it,” Dominguez said with a smile.

Dominguez insists he simply focuses on the present moment and ignores the media speculation, and given the results so far, who could argue with that?

The switch-hitting center fielder is fresh off a spring training with the Yankees where he batted .455 with four home runs, one double, nine RBI, eight runs scored, three walks and one stolen base in 11 games.

Last season, the organization’s No. 2 prospect looked bound for stardom during a late-season call-up to Double- A in which he hit 9-for-20 with five walks during Somerset’s championship playoff run including one home run from each side of the plate in the clinching game.

“I just look at the game like in every level, it’s the same baseball,” Dominguez said in describing his confidence level entering his third pro season. “Obviously the highest level is different, the guys that you’re facing, they know what they’re doing. But I just keep in my mind that it’s the same baseball — just baseball.”

Shortstop Trey Sweeney, who has played with Dominguez in Somerset, High-A Hudson Valley and Low-A Tampa over the past two years, says what stands out is his God-given talent and unheard of maturity at such a young age.

“He’s grown up a lot for sure in the game of baseball. I think all of his tools are starting to come together, and as he matures, he’s got a chance to be a really special player,” Sweeney said. “He’s gotten a lot better at taking pitches, swinging at the right pitches. That’s the hardest part about pro ball and adjusting is they know how to get you to try to chase out of the zone and they know how to nibble the corners. Just getting experience I think helps a lot, and he’s done really well at making himself better.”

Dominguez also participated in MLB All-Star Futures Game last summer in Los Angeles for the second time as a teenager, and he was the fourth-youngest prospect to participate in the Arizona Fall League. Dominguez said the second event gave him perspective on how different organi- zations function and how their prospects train.

So imagine the feeling of attending big-league camp in Tampa this spring. Dominguez admitted he was a bit starstruck seeing Yankees veterans like Anthony Rizzo and Josh Donaldson, whom he remembered being the AL MVP eight years ago. He worked with Harrison Bader on his defense, indicating the Yankees are having him take reps at the outfield corner spots as well this year.

“With Bader I learned left field things in the outfield, like how to get behind the ball, how to get to this ball quickly,” Dominguez said. “He’s a really good outfielder, he’s a really good player, and I learned that from him. And from all the guys just in the whole spring training, I just saw how they do (things), what’s their routine.”

New Somerset manager Raul Dominguez is already seeing signs of the 20-yearold’s enormous potential.

“This is the first time that I have a lot of 1-on-1 with him, and he’s a really, really smart kid,” he said. “Everything that you talk to him on drills, doing it in the games, he listens and he just tries to do it right away. I’m so happy to be part of his development this year in Somerset, and let’s see what happens.”

Jasson Dominguez feels that his swing decisions — which pitches are good or not good to hit — have been his biggest asset at the plate in the minor leagues.

If that continues, a fast start in Double-A this season could have him heading to the Bronx sooner rather than later. After all, top prospect Anthony Volpe was in Somerset less than a year ago and is now the Yankees’ starting shortstop.

But for the phenom who signed with the Yankees at 16 years old, he still needs to develop “at every department” and there is no sense in dreaming too big just yet.

“When I saw Volpe get in there, I was so happy for him,” Jasson Dominguez said. “But as I said before, I just focus on controlling what I can control. That kind of decision is not on me because I just focus on doing my job, and the other things happen.”