The box in yesterday's loss to Tampa shows Anthony Volpe's first hit of '24 - an RBI triple. We wanna picture a hip-high laser to the wall, only kept in the ballpark by gale force gusts. In fact, it was a slap single to center, misplayed by an out-of-position SS who dove and missed, allowing Volpe to ramble.
I don't mean to pee on Volpe or his triple. A hit is a hit, and plenty of liners will zing right into somebody's mitt - Willie McCovey to Bobby Richardson. Eventually, the cosmos will even out, as cosmoses love to do. Yesterday, Volpe hit three flies - to left, to right and to center. One dropped. He's now batting .250. Volpe trivia, eh?
Here's more: He was born in this millennium - 2001 - at Mt. Sinai Hospital. He spent his early years on the Upper East Side of Manhattan - (both parents, doctors) - and moved to Jersey in 4th grade. Let's remind ourselves that Volpe is 22 - same age as Spencer Jones, the YES sensation of the week, and younger than the Double A driftwood who streaked yesterday's lineup. He is the first rookie ever to win a Gold Glove, and while some may question that award, it reflects Volpe's personal drive as much as anything. He still has the ceiling of a future star.
Coupled with yesterday's news that Oswald Peraza has shoulder tightness - yikes, can anything else go wrong for the guy? - Volpe's health and development is more important than ever. The Yankees need him to:
a) Hit 50 points higher than last year.
b) Play in 140 games.
c) Hit 20-25 HRs.
d) Hold together the infield.
e) All of the above, WITHOUT drawing comparisons to a certain future Hall of Fame SS, who in last year's car commercials had to drive through a perilous rain storm to make it home to his supermodel wife. (A fucking rain storm? Are you kidding me? Have any of those tough Florida Men ever experienced a whiteout on I-81 north of Pulaski?)
Yesterday, Volpe batted leadoff. Come April, he'll bat ninth. Let's hope the balls keep dropping. One crazy thing about the Yankees is the number of seemingly established players who - in a strange turnabout from past springs - really need to show something: Giancarlo, Rizzo, Verdugo, LeMahieu, maybe Soto and Volpe.
In that regard, a fake triple looks as good as anything.
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14 comments:
It’s amazing how quickly Peraza’s stock has fallen. Last year at this time, he had the inside track to be the team’s starting SS. Now his role is undefined and there is a shoulder issue. Any Yankee injury is worrisome, as the arc of Yankee response to them ranges between incompetence and outright lying. Beginning the season in SWB is not out of the question.
Peraza looks like a goner. Very weird, but you can't predict baseball, I guess.
What is this "baseball" thing you all are talking about? I have heard of that thing before, but I thought it was a pastime.
Ah, Route 81 - in the winter there are fewer, more miserable winter highways in New York.
Along the Cortland Valley one winter night between Binghamton and Syracuse, the fog was so thick I wasn't able to drive more than 10mph. And the Cortland River looks like it's filled with anti-freeze. Even in summer.
And then there's Watertown. No town that I've been through has been more aptly named.
I fear we won't see Peraza again until June. Who knows what uniform he will be wearing. Will it be a flimsy see-through bit of MLB lingerie?
In winter, there is no highway in America more terrifying than Route 81, as it crosses the Tughill Plateau.
I vaguely remember a transport bus full of seniors being abducted by aliens on Route 81 sometime during the early 70's.
Fortunately, none of the passengers could remember anything about what happened. Unfortunately, neither could the driver who never fully recovered from the incident and passed away a few years later.
50 points higher? I'll settle for 20.
Seriously. I'd be ecstatic over a .230 BA.
Even Viktor Frankl would find this team hopeless.
From SNY
The Yankees have claimed infielder Jahmai Jones from the Milwaukee Brewers, the team announced Wednesday.
Jones, 26, appeared in seven games for Milwaukee in 2023. Over parts of three big league seasons with the Los Angeles Angels, Baltimore Orioles, and Brewers, Jones has gone 15-for-84 with four doubles and seven RBI in 36 career games.
To make room for Jones, infielder Jordan Groshans was designated for assignment.
The excitement never ends in Yankee Universe
Career average under .200?
That checks one of Ca$hole's boxes. Does he have multiple trips to the DL? That would make him a keeper.
On SNY last night, both Anthony McCarren and one of their other regulars were asked "Thumbs up or down?" on Volpe. Both said, "Thumbs up."
I would've said "Thumbs down." Not because of Volpe himself, so much, as to the team bringing him up. I suspect we have already seen peak Volpe, and the rest of his career will be a constant struggle—until he is inevitably dealt or walks to a team with competent trainers and coaches. Sorry to say this, but how can one think differently?
Past time, indeed
That's quite probable, Hoss. It'll be interesting to see whether Volpe will develop further this year or go into that downward death spiral of Andujar, Frazier, Sanchez, etc, etc, etc.
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