Anthony Volpe is not doing himself any favors down in the minor leagues.
The once highly touted Yankees prospect made a noticeable baserunning blunder on Wednesday afternoon during the Scranton/Wilkes-Barre RailRiders’ 9-7 win over the Worcester Red Sox, either not realizing how many outs there were or thinking a Spencer Jones double had left the yard.
The issue occurred in the top of the fifth inning when Jones hit a long fly ball off the wall that drove in a run and could have scored Volpe as well, who was on first base at the time.
He started to slow up as he rounded second base, and then, after figuring out what was going on, briefly tried to speed up, only to have to return to third in order not to get thrown out.
Volpe did manage to score after Yanquiel Fernández hit a home run in the next at-bat, but he was called out on the broadcast.
“I’m not sure how Volpe didn’t score here,” one of the announcers said. “Look at him slow out as he gets to second base. Did he think this was gone? Two outs, you’ve got to be moving.”
The baserunning error came on a day when Volpe grounded out and flew out in his first two at-bats and then finally reached base in the fifth when he grounded into a force out at second base.
The infielder struck out, lined out and flew out in his final three at-bats of the day.
All of this comes on the heels of the Yankees’ decision to option Volpe back to the minor leagues after he was reinstated from the 10-day IL on Sunday.
A decision on Volpe had been forthcoming with his 20-day rehab window coming to a close.
Speaking with noti.group’s Dan Martin on Tuesday, Volpe wouldn’t say if he was surprised by the decision to keep him in the minors.
“At the end of the day, all I’ll say about it is I’m excited to help the team win the World Series,’’ Volpe said. “That’s my everyday focus. I’m just focused on what I can do in the moment and the work I can put in to be ready whenever my number is called.”
[Notigroup Newsroom in collaboration with other media outlets, with information from the following sources]
