Anthony Volpe is a fan-favorite sophomore of the New York Yankees. The team needs him to keep improving as a shortstop and also in the offense. Lately, they have been overly relying on Aaron Judge and Juan Soto. Since June 13, the NY side had been through a downward slope as they went 6-16. Later, they did not have a great start to the month of July either. They went 4-8 until the All-Star break. After the Midsummer Classic, the NY side took time but gradually got back to winning ways again.
As of now, they have the same win-loss record as the Baltimore Orioles, fighting for the top spot in the American League East Division. Lately, their batting combination has been working well, as they just won a series against another division rival, the Toronto Blue Jays. Moreover, fans might be happy with the sophomore Volpe, who seems to have gotten back to form. As a result, the offense just got a boost in the bottom of the lineup.
Anthony Volpe Down The Order Is Working
On Sunday, Anthony Volpe came to bat at number seven in the rubber match of the Pinstripes with the Toronto Blue Jays at Yankee Stadium. The sophomore had a hot start to the ongoing season when Aaron Boon shifted him to the leadoff spot. But unfortunately for the New Jersey native, later he hit a cold spell. That led the manager to move Volpe back down the order. Since then, the new shortstop has responded well with an .810 OPS over the last 24 games. In the pre-game interview on Sunday, Aaron Boone told the reporters that he has no plans to move Anthony Volpe back as their leadoff hitter. After all, the 23-year-old hitter has been enjoying great production down at the bottom of the lineup.
However, as per Si.com, Boone mentioned, “I’ll not rule anything out ever.” But the manager seems to believe in the philosophy of “If it ain’t broke, there’s no need to fixing it.” Hence, Boone says, “I kind of prefer Volpe to keep batting where he is doing at present.” He likes the current lineup. The manager indicated that Anthony Volpe will keep moving around sixth, seventh, eighth or even ninth, given whoever is in the lineup. Moreover, Boone said what everybody is seeing at the moment that Volpe is adding length for the team’s lineup with the way he is going at the moment.
Batting Down In The Order Has Helped The Yankees Infielder’s Production
While Anthony Volpe was enjoying a pretty good and long hitting streak at the leadoff spot, it turned out to be not that long. He hit a cold spell. Then, the skipper had to deploy him down the batting order. Later, he started hitting seventh, and it helped in increasing his productivity.
Since the All-Star Games, the shortstop has been slashing .373/.383/.695 over 14 games. He had an OPS of 1.078. In the first half of the season, Volpe had hit just six homers. But the New Jersey native has already five home runs since the start of the second half. Now, the Yankees are not in a rush to change anything up with the sophomore hitter.
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