The process of making Anthony Volpe more defensively versatile — and perhaps more useful to the Yankees — is underway.
Volpe played second base Saturday night at Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre, his first game at a position other than shortstop since 2021, and cleanly fielded all three balls hit to him.
The Yankees are easing Volpe into the new position, as he played shortstop Friday and Sunday after reporting to Scranton/Wilkes-Barre following his demotion when the club called up top prospect George Lombard Jr.
During his time in the big leagues this season, Volpe had been taking occasional ground balls at second base on days he was not in the lineup.
But it did not make much sense for the Yankees to try him there in games without doing so in the minors first, especially because they had José Caballero capable of moving over to second if Jazz Chisholm Jr. needed a day off.
Barring injuries, Volpe’s path back to the big leagues this season is unclear, especially with Lombard hitting the ground running on both sides of the ball in his first week as a big leaguer.
But in the meantime, the 25-year-old Volpe is at least giving himself some more flexibility to get back if he can play another position besides shortstop while trying to rediscover some of the offensive consistency that made him a top prospect not long ago.
Second base, where his arm figures to be a better fit, could potentially provide Volpe a lane to play for the Yankees next season, with Chisholm set to become a free agent and unlikely to be re-signed.
The Yankees have been starved for offensive production from their catchers this season, but over the last month, Austin Wells has started to provide it.
Since July 9, Wells has hit .269 with a .935 OPS in 21 games — the highest OPS of any Yankee not named Lombard during that stretch.
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And while it comes at a time when the Yankees are not getting enough from some of their key bats like Ben Rice, Trent Grisham and Chisholm, they have been encouraged by Wells beginning to move the needle, especially after failing to add a catcher at the trade deadline.
“I feel good,” Wells said Sunday after going 1-for-3. “Always want more. I try not to put too much pressure on trying to score runs and trying to do too much. So taking the knocks when you can get them and hopefully extending the lineup allows for guys to come up at the end of the game with good matchups.”
