BRONX, N.Y. — A comeback is not always a dream.
Anthony Volpe spent more than a month trying to rebuild his game far from the pressure that had followed nearly every Yankees at-bat. His return Thursday brought all of that pressure back at once, along with the loudest response he could have imagined.
Volpe went 3-for-4 with a career-high five RBIs, a stolen base and a grand slam in the Yankees’ 10-3 victory over the Colorado Rockies at Yankee Stadium. His seventh-inning drive broke open the game, drew a curtain call and helped New York complete a three-game sweep.
For him, the more important detail came before the home run. He was not recalled to reclaim shortstop. George Lombard Jr. has that job. Volpe returned because Jazz Chisholm Jr. went on the injured list with a sprained right thumb, and the Yankees started Volpe at second base for the first time in his major league career.
That represented a dramatic change for a player who had been the Yankees’ regular shortstop from 2023 through 2025. After his Aug. 4 demotion, Volpe learned second and third base at Triple-A while rebuilding his bat.
The reset produced results. Volpe hit .264 with a .906 OPS, 11 home runs, 26 RBIs and 10 stolen bases in 37 Triple-A games. Over his final 17 games there, he hit .333 with a 1.218 OPS, eight homers and 14 RBIs. He then carried that surge directly into the Bronx.
The Yankees still are not handing him a job. That was the immediate reality check after the best possible first night back.
Second base turns an old Yankees narrative upside down
The position switch carries its own irony.
In July, a report claimed the infielder had refused to play second base. Volpe publicly denied it, and broadcaster Michael Kay later retracted the report and apologized after additional checking. Volpe said at the time that he had made clear to Boone and the Yankees that he was willing to play wherever the club needed him.
Two months later, Volpe’s first major league start at second produced one of his best offensive games. He also played clean defense after making 19 starts there at Triple-A.
Boone had already received encouraging reports about the transition before Thursday.
“It’s been excellent from all the reports from player development,” Boone said of Volpe’s defense at second. “The double play turn has been excellent. I’m not surprised. He’s the type of athlete that should take to that position well, and so far, so good.”
“I would imagine he’s going to be very good at it.”
Lombard’s emergence means the Yankees no longer need Volpe to prove he is their shortstop. Second base now gives him another path to playing time and a postseason role.
Triple-A gave Volpe room the majors could not
Volpe described his minor league stint as a bubble. He worked with hitting coach Mike Mergenthaler and experimented without every change being judged by a major league result.
Video from Triple-A showed higher hands, a backstep before the load and a two-handed finish. Boone said the environment gave Volpe more freedom to adjust. The Yankees now have to see whether those changes last.
Volpe said he never assumed another Yankees opportunity was coming, even while he was producing at Scranton/Wilkes-Barre.
“I wanted to be back up here,” Volpe said. “I wanted to be helping and contributing, but when you’re down there, there’s obviously no guarantees. So you work really hard for yourself and to be the player that you feel like can help your organization. But other than that, there’s nothing guaranteed.”
The uncertainty matters after one explosive night. Consistency has always been the larger problem.
Five RBIs do not guarantee everyday work
Aaron Boone praised Volpe’s at-bats, preparation and work at a new position. The manager still stopped short of naming him the everyday second baseman.
Boone continues to view Jose Caballero as part of the second-base picture while Chisholm is sidelined. The Yankees are approaching the position day by day rather than treating Thursday as a permanent depth-chart change.
One night strengthened Volpe’s case without settling it.
Boone emphasized the work behind the result after the Yankees finished off Colorado.
“Great results but good at-bats,” manager Aaron Boone said after the 10-3 win. “Excited for him, he hasn’t done anything but continue to work and grind and got his way back here. And obviously had an impact on this game.”
MLB’s updated statistics put Volpe at .251 with a .333 on-base percentage, a .682 OPS, two home runs, 24 RBIs and eight steals in 57 games. The numbers remain modest, but Thursday offered evidence that his Triple-A changes can survive major league pitching.
A historic slam creates an October decision, not a promise
Volpe’s grand slam also extended an unusual Yankees reversal. New York went through its first 144 games without a slam. Lombard hit the club’s first Wednesday, and the infielder followed one night later.
The consecutive blasts made the Yankees the first MLB team to have a shortstop and second baseman hit grand slams on back-to-back days, in either order. It was also the first time in franchise history that players 25 or younger hit slams in consecutive games.
The roster question is less tidy. Chisholm has begun a seven-to-10-day shutdown but expects to return before the postseason. Caballero remains available at second, Lombard is entrenched at short and Volpe can move around the infield.
That gives Boone options the Yankees did not have when Volpe was demoted. It also means Thursday’s five RBIs cannot erase the competition for October at-bats.
Volpe changed his immediate Yankees future with one night. Boone’s response made clear that he still has to change the next one.
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