Once again, here we go, staring into The Abyss...
Yep. We know it well. A blanket of blackness, breached by one flittering dot, for which we cannot fathom. Fred Nietzche said that when you stare into The Abyss, The Abyss stares back. We see a face, which might be ourselves, or all of humanity, or maybe something else.
Something, or someone, is staring back. And for Yankee fans, it is Anthony Volpe.
Once again, we wonder if he has a role in the Yankees' future.
By now, everyone claims to be done with Volpe. It's been three years. We've seen enough. Trade him for a lug nut. Banish him to Moosic. Don't let him steal another summer. But but BUT... like crackheads unwilling to throw out the pipe, we remain addicted, prisoners of the Yankee hype machine that told us Clint Frasier would hit, and Colter Bean would kill righties. We're still waiting on Volpe - the prodigal son of Jersey - who, for whatever it's worth - is 25, the same age as Spencer Jones.
Last winter, we were done. He hit .212 with 10 HRs. There would be no excuses, no new opportunities. Snake Plisken had a better chance of escaping NY intact. And yet... in October, we were told that Volpe gutted-out the second half with a jammed shoulder that required surgery. Was that the cause of his dismal numbers?
Two weeks ago, he returned. It roiled the Yankiverse. The fan base demanded that Jose Caballero remain everyday SS, until maybe George Lombard Jr. arrives. Volpe needed to be stuffed into a trade package and sent to the NL West - San Diego or Arizona - far enough to never darken our Abyss, ever again.
And here we are, telling ourselves THIS IS ABSOLUTELY THE LAST TIME we will stare into The Volpe Abyss. So, what happened last night? He homered, collected three hits against KC. Dare we believe?
Last night, he also made a great play, ranging into left field, snagging a ball and throwing out the lumbering Salvador Perez, who runs like he's competing in an invisible tractor pull. Still, a great play is a great play. Volpe made one. He's hitting .281, close to what he hit in the 2024 world series - gulp (.286).
Ah, remember that? We watched him meltdown on the national stage - a ridiculous throw to 3B in Game 5 against the Dodgers? But he also homered against those Dodgers, ended up tied for the Yankee team lead with 5 RBIs.
Dear God, how long must we do this? We still don't know if Volpe is a future star, a serviceable MLB shortstop or a massive dud.
But today, he's staring back. Hello, darkness... on behalf of the Yankiverse... WTF?
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10 comments:
We ALL want to drink that snake blood kool aid.
I don't trust his recent burst of pretty-goodness. Remember, last night was the Royals. THE ROYALS. Everybody was hitting, even Volpe. And yes, a nice play that he would've risked an error to make and is lucky the big man runs slower than Stanton. A lot slower.
Jury is still out for me. If he plays like this rest of the year, fine. IF he plays like this and Cab plays third instead of McMahon, suddenly the infield has a little bite and the bottom of the order doesn't suck (except for Wells, who Boone will keep playing, waiting for the magic beans to sprout).
IF that happens, and maybe IF Escarra or an acquired catcher hits over .260 with some power, and IF the rotation holds up, and IF we replace a couple/few guys in the bullpen...well, maybe we have a shot this year.
Maybe THIS time....maybe THIS time....
Congratulations to Mark Texeira on his primary win! He's a lock to win the general and fight for the wealthy suburbs of San Antonio against DEI, Cultural Marxism, and the Deep State!
Well, good golly Stang. Y’all should know that it was always in his name.
You don't gotta believe! (Only a Mets fan would negate that statement.)
Sterling's call last night, if he were still alive, would have been something like " Mark is sending a text message because he is so far up Trump's ass no one can hear him." Fuck Texeira- sideways!
KC's pitching makes the feeble Yankees hitters look like the late 1920s team called Murderers' Row. But the current anemic group of batters simply cannot use that nickname. So we must call them the Involuntary Manslaughterers' Row.
The answer is SSS (small sample size). We’ve seen bursts from Volpe before, but they are never sustained. That will likely be the case again. In the meantime, let him play. The team will need Caballero’s versatility when Stanton returns.
Love the name of the pitcher Volpe homered off: Bailey Falter. Perfect. Wish we could face pitchers who bail and falter all the time.
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