With Anthony Volpe struggling at the plate, the Yankees’ rookie shortstop decided to spend Monday’s off day surrounded by friendly faces in a familiar setting.
Volpe invited some of his 2022 minor league teammates, including catching prospect Austin Wells, over to his home in New Jersey. There, they hung out, dined on chicken parm and reminisced while going over old at-bats.
“Kind of like old times,” a smiling Volpe said Tuesday night after he helped the Yankees beat the Mets, 7-6.
But that hangout resulted in more than just a nice night. As Volpe and Wells viewed old home run clips on an iPad, the duo “noticed some things.”
“Kind of a little stuff with my stance and how I set up to hit,” Volpe said. “It was so small, but we both kind of noticed it and started talking about it. I think we both took a lot away from it.”
Volpe told that story after showing up to Citi Field with a new stance on Wednesday.
With a more closed-off setup, Volpe raised his average to .191 with a two-hit night. While a hard-hit, sixth-inning double should’ve been caught by Mets center fielder Brandon Nimmo, Volpe also cut the Yankees’ deficit to one with a fourth-inning two-bagger off future Hall-of-Famer Max Scherzer.
“He’s constantly making adjustments,” manager Aaron Boone said. “Just looking at old footage, trying to get him in line. I’m not going to go into the weeds on it. I don’t even know all the weeds on it. But he’s just making little adjustments to try and get him in, really, that good position that he’s been known for throughout his young career.”
Volpe said that his tweaks “definitely” had an immediate impact Tuesday, and that he felt “comfortable” at the plate. He added that he and Wells had been texting all night, and he shouted out the Yankees’ support staff for helping him work through his woes.
Volpe never intended to get away from his old setup, but he said that the long grind of a baseball season can bring about “bad habits” without even realizing it.
“It’s obviously frustrating, but it’s nice to know that what I was doing when I wasn’t getting results wasn’t natural with what I always do,” Volpe said. “So kind of just getting back to where I’ve been and where I feel comfortable. Whatever happens from there, I’ll take it.”
Volpe entered Tuesday’s game slashing .186/.260/.345 with nine home runs, 26 RBI and 14 steals on just as many tries. While the 22-year-old has made positive contributions, his 77 strikeouts easily lead the Yankees, and his numbers had been ever worse in his last 80 plate appearances (.122/.175/.257).
Volpe’s shortcomings have recently sparked debates over whether he needs a minor league reset, but owner Hal Steinbrenner dismissed the possibility of a demotion earlier on Tuesday.
Volpe responded with a big night after making some changes, though he claimed he wasn’t aware of the owner’s vote of confidence — though he certainly appreciated it.
“I’m pretty out of the loop on a lot of things,” Volpe said. “I just treat every day the same, and I’m just pretty out of the loop.”
