Anthony Volpe's name has been a point of contention for the New York Yankees over the last two seasons. It felt like his grace period as a young player trying to break in ran out last year, when a medley of errors and a well-below-average bat became a breaking point for fans and, as this year's events clearly showed, the organization itself.
It was an interesting turn of events, though when, after all the debate about who the Yankees should keep on the roster, José Caballero or Volpe, the two of them ended up playing the final game of the season, when they were bounced by AL East rival Tampa Bay Rays.
It was an ugly conclusion to the year, and there are few things the Yankees should be proud of after that lackluster effort against Tampa, but it gave the team some insight into what to do with their lightning-rod-for-controversy infielder, Volpe.
What Volpe can still bring to the Yankees
After their elimination, Aaron Judge said the Yankees need Volpe to win a World Series, and while it was a sentiment easy to scoff at, viewing the team's former everyday shortstop through the lens of a failed top prospect rather than a potential bench piece really changes the narrative around Volpe.
The fact is, Judge isn't off base about Volpe's potential value to the Yankees whenever baseball comes back next year and beyond.
While Volpe's time as a shortstop playing 150+ games a year is probably over unless the Yankees deal him and he does that elsewhere, Game 3 of the ALDS essentially served as a roadmap to his future. Volpe started at second base, then shifted to third. Like Caballero, Volpe can be a roving infielder who can start in a pinch if there's an injury or if Boone feels the need to shake things up.
One thing Volpe needs to do this off-season is get some reps at third base, as well as second. Second may come more naturally to him, so the main focus should be third.
Even the biggest of Volpe's naysayers have to give him credit for his mentality. If Volpe's ego was bruised this season, he didn't show it. The numbers don't show it, but it's clear he's a gamer. Despite losing his job and being sent down to the minors, Volpe continued working on his bat and played whatever position the Yankees needed him to. That carried over not only to AAA, but to the big leagues as well.
Another thing he should get credit for is coming in and producing in that elimination game. He was only an inch or two away from homering, and potentially extending that series. It's not easy to do when a player has been riding the bench for an entire round and is coming in cold.
The Yankees have an opportunity to build an electric bench between Volpe and Caballero. They're pretty similar right now, both in what they bring to the plate and in their propensity to steal a bag and be a nightmare on the basepaths for opposing pitchers. That's not something the Yankees have been able to say about their bench in previous years.
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