Volpe checks off more 'milestones and checkpoints' as he nears return

BRIDGEWATER, N.J. -- Anthony Volpe took another positive step forward in his path back to the Bronx on Friday night as he got through his third rehab game with Double-A Somerset -- finishing with a hit, a walk, a stolen base and two runs scored over five innings. This is the third time in four days that the Yankees shortstop has started at short and played five frames in his recovery from left shoulder surgery last October.

“I feel great. Ready to go,” Volpe said. “Nothing feels bad, it’s only good, so just keep stacking that and go from there.”

If Friday was any indication, Volpe is certainly moving as well as ever – he legged out an infield single, stole a base and easily scored from third on a fly ball to center in the fourth inning. The 24-year-old noted that he feels like himself again at the dish, and that while timing is always the last thing to come back for a player, he feels his mechanics have smoothed out after playing through most of last year with a nagging injury.

“I just think that the stuff we’re working on, I just feel like I’m able to keep doing it and there’s no compensating at all,” Volpe said. “I feel like I can be really consistent with it.”

Volpe injured his left shoulder during a May 3 game last season, but continued to play through the discomfort. He underwent surgery to repair a partially torn labrum in that shoulder in October and is seeing his first game action since last year’s AL Division Series against the Blue Jays.

He admitted that he didn’t think he was overcompensating with his swing while playing through the pain last season, but now, looking back, it’s apparent to him and others that he actually was.

“At the time, I didn’t feel I was,” he said. “But now seeing comparisons and how much I learned about how important what we’ve been working on is and what it does, yeah, I definitely was.”

Volpe collected his first knock of his rehab stint at Double-A on Thursday after going 0-for-2 on Tuesday. The hit came during his final at-bat of that game in the fifth inning, a plate appearance that needed an assist from his teammates in order to happen.

“I was just excited to get the at-bat,” Volpe said. “The boys put together really good at-bats and I was already kind of stressed that they weren’t going to let me go back out if I didn’t get it. But it all worked out. It was the baseball gods. You always want that chance. You always want to get hits.”

As he continues to navigate through this rehab process, the New Jersey native is not taking any milestone for granted.

“The recovery process is such a long one,” Volpe said. “Even the tiniest milestone, like the first day hitting off a tee, that was a huge day. It doesn’t sound like it’s big, it’s not a big headline, but for us and going through that process, those milestones and checkpoints are huge.”

Volpe is expected to start again in Somerset on Sunday, and if all goes well, he will likely head to Triple-A for the final phase of his rehab next week. He is expected to rejoin the Yankees in late April or early May.