NEW YORK -- Anthony Volpe said he felt as though he was residing in a “bubble” during his time with Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre, which offered an opportunity to reset and focus on improving all aspects of his game.
“I wanted to get a lot out of it,” Volpe said. “You have a game every night to try out different stuff and feel what works. You feel like it’s going to translate in case an opportunity like this comes. So there was just a lot of trial and error.”
Optioned to Triple-A in early August, Volpe returned to the big leagues on Thursday, batting ninth and playing second base against the Rockies. In a corresponding move, the Yankees placed infielder Jazz Chisholm Jr. on the 10-day injured list with a right thumb sprain.
Chisholm will not participate in baseball activities for seven to 10 days, and said he expects to be activated when the team returns home for its final homestand on Sept. 22.
“I’m confident in my healing abilities,” said Chisholm, who sustained the injury sliding into second base during the eighth inning on Tuesday.
In the meantime, Volpe will see playing time at second base, as will José Caballero. It will mark Volpe’s first Major League game at a position other than shortstop; he worked to expand his versatility in Triple-A, making 19 starts at second base, three at third base and 15 at shortstop.
Entering Wednesday, Volpe had committed one error in 162 1/3 Triple-A innings as a second baseman (.987 fielding percentage).
“It’s been excellent, from all the reports,” manager Aaron Boone said. “The double play turns have been excellent. I’m not surprised. He’s the type of athlete that should take to that position well, and so far, so good.”
Boone said he has been told that Volpe “has been swinging the bat incredibly well for a while now” in the Minors, something teammate Jasson Domínguez touched upon during the Padres series, when he remarked that Volpe “became Barry Bonds all of a sudden” with the RailRiders.
“We’ve always maintained and felt like he’s very capable of being a good offensive player,” Boone said.
Volpe is the reigning International League Player of the Week after going 11-for-21 (.524) with three doubles, three homers, six RBIs, eight runs scored and five stolen bases from Sept. 1-6.
Asked about the Bonds comparison, Volpe laughed and said, “I don’t know about that.”
Volpe struggled in 56 big league games this season after returning from offseason left shoulder surgery, batting .240/.325/.322 with one homer and 19 RBIs. Boone said he now sees Volpe “getting himself into really good positions” at the plate, hitting the ball with authority to all fields.
Volpe credited the Triple-A coaching staff for his recent improvements, specifically bench coach Gil Velazquez and hitting coach Michael Mergenthaler.
“We just got to work right away,” Volpe said. “There’s stuff I wanted to work on and wanted to do. I felt like it was a good opportunity to try to take advantage of. We did a lot, and we took a lot of swings. I feel really good about it.”