Roger Rubin: Yankees' Anthony Volpe had a wild month but appears to have reclaimed spot
The Yankees' Anthony Volpe waits for the pitch before hitting a two-run single during the ninth inning against the Kansas City Royals on Monday in Kansas City, Mo. Credit: AP/Charlie Riedel
KANSAS CITY, Mo.
How this all will play out for Anthony Volpe remains to be seen.
To this point, the 2019 first-round pick hasn’t become the star — or even the mainstay — the Yankees envisioned when they anointed him their starting shortstop in 2023 and he hit 21 home runs, won a Gold Glove and finished eighth in the AL Rookie of the Year voting.
After showing promise that season, he followed it with two in which he statistically was one of the worst everyday players in the game.
After a zany month for the 25-year-old, the question begs to be asked: Will he ever be the player the Yankees thought he’d be?
When Volpe was fully recovered from offseason shoulder surgery and the Yankees veered from the plan to reinstall him as the starter — instead optioning him to Triple-A while replacement Jose Caballero produced — the answer looked like a “no.” But given his play in the three-game sweep of the Royals that concluded with Wednesday’s 7-0 win behind Gerrit Cole’s spectacular second start back from Tommy John surgery, maybe it’s too soon to say he won’t become the player the Yankees envisioned.
With the versatile and athletic Caballero used more as a play-anywhere regular in the series and Volpe getting all three starts, he seems to have regained a tenuous grasp on his old job. And if he keeps producing the way he did against Kansas City — going 4-for-12 with a home run and four RBIs, including a go-ahead two-run single in the ninth inning of Monday’s 4-3 win — he is likely to hang on to it.
Asked about a month that began at what had to feel like rock bottom in Triple-A and now might feel like a triumphant return, Volpe told Newsday, “It was a lot to get back here. Obviously, nothing was going to be a given and I never expected it would be. I feel like I put in the work to be back here and maybe feel like there’s been some extra motivation.”
“I’m not surprised how he’s handled all that,” manager Aaron Boone said of the month Volpe has had. “He’s got an amazing makeup to him. He’s a tough kid. He’s a dog, he’s a gamer and he’s a team guy. He wants to win.
“I’m sure there was obviously disappointment when we optioned him, but it didn’t change who he was or how he goes about things, and he’s earned his way back into more and more opportunities.”
There is no denying that earning his way to the current circumstances has to do with his performance at the plate. He appears to have more mastery of the strike zone, chasing fewer pitches outside of it and seeing 4.46 pitches per at bat compared with 4.02 last season. One example: He saw 26 pitches in four at-bats before delivering the key hit Monday.
And statistically he is performing far better than his career numbers. His batting average is .257 after he hit .222 in his first three seasons. His on-base percentage is .409, up from the .283 mark he brought into the season. His slugging percentage is .429, up from .379. His OPS is a very respectable .838, up from .662.
“I’m just focusing on controlling the [strike] zone and doing damage on the pitches I can handle,” he said. “I think I’ve worked hard at many facets of the game to make myself a better player, including that. But I do that because I expect a lot of myself.”
“He’s really controlling the strike zone, making really good swing decisions,” Boone said. “There’s been some at-bats where he’s been behind in the count and been really good at laying off some tough pitches to get him to another pitch that — in a couple instances — have led to a big hit.”
Caballero missed 10 days this month on the IL with a broken finger, which opened the door for Volpe’s return to the active roster and starts at shortstop. When Caballero returned, it looked as if there would be a shortstop controversy. But Boone has opted to keep them both in the lineup this week, with Caballero manning three different positions — third base, leftfield and second base — while Volpe has remained at shortstop.
Volpe explained that coming back from the surgery included some “dark days when I had more pain than when I was trying to play through the injury.” He said it was frustrating to go through stretches of days without progress. But his determination to get back to a moment like this and the people in the organization he had supporting him got him here.
“When I got back up here, there was a lot of emotion for me,” he said. “All I’ve wanted is to do whatever I can to help this team win.”
The sample size still is small at 11 games, but there is no denying Volpe seems to be on the ascent. Maybe, just maybe, his glimpse of rock bottom earlier this month will prove to be a turning point. How it all will play out remains to be seen.
Roger Rubin returned to Newsday in 2018 to write about high schools, colleges and baseball following 20 years at the Daily News. A Baseball Hall of Fame voter since 2011, he has covered 13 MLB postseasons and 14 NCAA Final Fours.
