Anthony Volpe ‘catching ‘fire’ for Yankees right when they need it
There are not many people, if any, who have seen more of Anthony Volpe’s swing over the last few years than Austin Wells.
So the Yankees catcher knows what it looks like when Volpe is going right, which is what he has seen over the first two rounds of the playoffs entering the World Series.
“He’s been on fire,” Wells said Wednesday on a video call from Yankee Stadium before the team flew to Los Angeles. “His at-bats have been great. He’s not giving up any pitches. You can really tell he’s got a full intent on what he wants to do at the plate and he’s not giving anything away, which is exactly where we need him to be.”
In his first taste of the postseason, across nine games between the ALDS and ALCS, Volpe hit .310 with an .804 OPS.
The shortstop has walked eight times and only struck out six times, routinely putting together quality at-bats and hitting the ball hard almost every single time.
During the regular season, Volpe had a chase rate of 29.3 percent.
But that number has shrunk to 12.5 percent during the playoffs — the second-lowest mark among qualified hitters this postseason — as Volpe has stayed much more disciplined at the plate to give the Yankees a steady presence at the bottom of the lineup.
“No one’s trying to do anything too crazy,” Volpe said. “I’m just trying to do my part.”
Volpe, the lifelong Yankee fan, will now get a chance to bring a World Series title back to New York after being an 8-year-old spectator at the parade when the Yankees won their last championship in 2009.
“It’s going to be electric, but we’re ready,” Volpe said. “We’re ready for every moment. We’ve been through everything. I know when the time comes, we’ll be ready to answer everything.”
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Aaron Boone and Dave Roberts, two central figures in the Yankees-Red Sox rivalry from the early 2000s, will reunite on Friday as opposing managers in the World Series.
But their history together goes back to college, when Boone played for USC and Roberts for the rival UCLA.
“We weren’t friends — I think at that point in time, I didn’t care too much for him and I don’t think he cared too much for me,” Roberts said with a grin. “I do recall they probably got the best of us back in the day, so that probably enhanced my distaste for him and the Trojans. But he was always a heck of a ballplayer.”
Anthony Rizzo, playing through two broken fingers, knows what lefty Nestor Cortes will be in for, assuming he makes the World Series roster just a month after being diagnosed with a left elbow flexor strain.
“Obviously he hasn’t been in a game in [five] weeks now, so to come out and get World Series adrenaline is going to be huge for him,” Rizzo said. “Could be a little shaky, could be electric. But I know they have big lefties in their lineup that need to be neutralized.”
