Platoon Opportunity Could Be Anthony Volpe’s Last Chance With Yankees

Against one of the best southpaw pitchers of the last decade and a surefire Hall of Famer, Chris Sale, the New York Yankees opted to sit Jazz Chisholm Jr. In his place at second base was Josè Caballero. It made sense to do it, too, because Chisholm is hitting .215/.257/.369 against lefties.

Where things got interesting is that the Yankees chose to go with Austin Wells against Sale. There was a real opportunity to go with the handedness matchup, but manager Aaron Boone opted with Wells over Ali Sánchez. In fact, it was a pretty lefty-heavy lineup, with Spencer Jones and Trent Grisham — albeit there weren't many opportunities for either of them to have a righty in their place the way it was for Wells.

Boone going with Wells but not Chisholm should signal something about the charismatic second baseman's place within the organization. It's clear that if they believe in a player, they will fit them in. Hence the reason Ben Rice started getting in games against lefties pretty early on.

The one person who could benefit most from this is Anthony Volpe, who is beginning to get repetitions at second base in the minors. Now that George Lombard Jr. is here, if Volpe is going to get playing time at the big league level, this could be his last shot to make a difference with this team.

Volpe vs. lefties

Volpe isn't doing great against lefties this season, but it's still a night-and-day difference from Chisholm. Saying that really shows how bad Chisholm has been against them. Volpe is slashing .244/.310/.359 with a homer and four doubles (87 plate appearances). When he has done damage — and the word "damage" is being used loosely here — it has been against left-handed hitters.

New York Yankees shortstop Anthony Volpe kneeling on one knee at the plate after striking out against the Detroit Tigers. — New York Yankees shortstop Anthony Volpe (11) is currently down in the minor leagues, but could find his way back to the majors. | IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect

That was a smaller sample size, though, seeing as Volpe hasn't played a full season this year. Last year, with a bigger sample size against lefties (172 plate appearances), Volpe slashed .253/.316/.416.

If the Yankees get that variation of Volpe in a platoon, that could be a boost to the lineup. It would just be a matter of how he plays at second base. One thing about playing that position is that his arm strength will be less of a factor.

This version of Volpe is also better against lefties than Caballero is this season. Against lefties, Caballero is slashing .230/.279/.372. It's a fall from where he was last year, when Caballero hit .250/.361/.452 against southpaws.

Nonetheless, it's hard to see where Volpe goes from here if this doesn't work out for him. A platoon with the struggling Chisholm could be his last shot.

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