New York Yankees manager Aaron Boone said Anthony Volpe looks more grounded at the plate after mechanical adjustments the infielder made during a month in Triple-A, comments that arrived as the Yankees chased a series sweep of the Minnesota Twins on Wednesday.
The Yankees entered the finale at Target Field having taken the first two games of the set, including an 8-1 win Tuesday. Volpe went 2-for-4 with a double, a walk and a stolen base in that contest.
Volpe returned to the majors Sept. 10 after Jazz Chisholm Jr. landed on the injured list with a strained right thumb. In his first game back, Volpe started at second base against the Colorado Rockies and went 3-for-4 with a grand slam and a career-high five RBIs in a 10-3 victory that completed a sweep.
That homer was his second of the season. The 25-year-old is in his fourth big-league year, all with New York.
Entering Wednesday, Volpe was batting .249 with 47 hits, two home runs, 24 RBIs, 23 runs and 10 stolen bases in 62 games. His on-base percentage sat at .332 and his slugging percentage at .344, good for a .676 OPS.
The Yankees optioned Volpe on Aug. 4 after promoting top prospect George Lombard Jr. to take over everyday shortstop duties. Volpe had been hitting .240 with a .646 OPS at the time of the demotion.
He responded in Triple-A with Scranton/Wilkes-Barre. After the assignment, Volpe posted a .284 average with 10 home runs and a 1.023 OPS in 28 games, according to reports around his recall. Over a recent stretch of 17 games before the call-up, he hit .333 with eight homers and a 1.218 OPS.
Boone discussed the swing changes in an interview with Jomboy Media’s Talkin’ Yanks. The adjustments have been described as modeled in part after the setups of Mike Trout and Nolan Arenado, with Volpe stepping back, grounding himself more on his back leg and placing his hands in a different position.
“I think it’s the hitting department, Jarret DeHart getting involved. I don’t think it’s anything drastically new. He’s been that at different times, it’s just getting consistent and getting into a good place down there. And to me, when he came back up, it just looked more grounded. I feel like he’s getting to stronger positions,” Boone said.
“There’s only been… four, five, six games, so he’s gotten some results, but I also feel like there’s been some swings where he’s just missed… A couple balls deep to right that I feel like he’s kind of on time for and getting into a strong position. I thought last night, coming off the bench, he put a good at-bat where he hits the ball well to left. So those are all good signs that he’s on some things, and he’s doing a good job with the whole field but not sacrificing authority in his swing. He’s getting a good swing off.”
DeHart is the Yankees’ director of hitting, hired after serving as the Seattle Mariners’ hitting coach. Boone said the work was not a wholesale overhaul but a matter of repeating stronger positions more consistently.
The sample since Volpe’s return remains small. In his last seven games he was hitting .300 with a .364 on-base percentage, a .500 slugging percentage, one homer, five RBIs and three stolen bases.
New York sat at 88-63 after Tuesday’s win, 3 1/2 games behind the Tampa Bay Rays in the American League East. The Yankees had already clinched a postseason berth and were playing for seeding and home-field considerations down the stretch.
Volpe has started primarily at second base since his recall, a role that could keep his bat in the lineup even after Chisholm returns and with Lombard established at shortstop. He won a Gold Glove as a rookie shortstop in 2023 but has spent parts of this season working multiple infield spots in the minors.
For the season he has drawn 24 walks against 46 strikeouts in 189 at-bats. Career numbers through this week stand at a .225 batting average, 54 home runs and 216 RBIs in 534 games.
Boone has pointed to Volpe’s ability to use the whole field without giving up authority. The manager also noted a few well-struck balls to right field that just missed and a solid at-bat to left when Volpe came off the bench.
Whether the changes hold over a larger sample will help determine Volpe’s role in October. The Yankees have 11 games remaining after Wednesday, including a series in Arizona and a home set against Tampa Bay.
Volpe’s path this year included a delayed start after left shoulder labrum surgery last October, a midseason option and now a late push for playing time. His production since Sept. 10 has given the club another infield option as it tries to close the gap in the division.
