Anthony Volpe is in a grind to get back to the big leagues, but his ABS performance on Wednesday won't help his cause.
The New York Yankees sent the shortstop to the minor leagues earlier this month to bring up top shortstop prospect George Lombard Jr., as Volpe has never quite hit the ground running as a former top prospect himself.
Despite his struggles, Volpe had actually induced a healthy walk rate in his time with the big league club this season, but one would not think that given his first at-bat with Triple-A Scranton on Wednesday.
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Volpe saw three straight balls to begin the game and then took what he thought was ball four. It was called a strike, but Volpe challenged the call in hopes of getting on first base — he was wrong.
The next pitch was an offspeed pitch that looked much more out of the zone than the one prior, but given what had just occurred, he did not want to take the risk of losing both challenges right at the start of the game.
Well, that's exactly what he did on the next pitch, as he challenged strike three and was wrong again.
So, the team was out of challenges after just one batter.
He made up for it with a triple later on in the night, but it was not enough in the RailRiders' 11-3 loss to the Lehigh Valley IronPigs.
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Volpe has hit well since being demoted, hitting .304 (7-for-23) with a double, triple and homer. He has recorded at least one hit in each of his five games since being sent down.
In the majors this year, he was hitting .240 with a career-high .325 on-base percentage, but his .322 slugging percentage was the worst of his career, as he'd hit just one home run in 56 games.
The aforementioned Lombard, meanwhile, is hitting .320 with a .953 OPS in his first seven games as a major leaguer and had the exact opposite ABS fate as Volpe a couple of nights ago, correctly challenging two strike-three calls to draw a walk.
Volpe has been working at second base since being sent to the minors, perhaps showing the Yankees' hand for his future with the team.
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