How is Yankees' Anthony Volpe progressing in rehab assignment?
Anthony Volpe began a minor league rehab assignment at Class AA Somerset as part of his return to the Yankees from injury.
NEW YORK – Temporarily back at his Yankee Stadium locker Wednesday, Anthony Volpe feels some normalcy returning to his baseball life. “He was upbeat, smiling,’’ said Yankees manager Aaron Boone of their brief interaction. Tuesday night marked Volpe’s first minor league rehab game since left labrum (shoulder) surgery last October.
He’s due to play again Thursday at Class AA Somerset. By the weekend, Volpe hopes to extend his five defensive innings to seven at shortstop. And by next Tuesday, Volpe’s rehab assignment should be transferred to Class AAA Scranton/Wilkes-Barre – about a week’s worth of games, after which he’ll be re-evaluated.
Based on that schedule, Volpe could return to the Yanks’ lineup by the last week of April, or the first week of May, but he’s not focused on a particular date. And he’s “not thinking about testing’’ his shoulder on a particular play, “but after the fact, you do something (on the field) and you look back at how it felt. ’’ It all felt fine Tuesday, though Volpe had just one groundball chance at shortstop.
“I want to make a diving play. I want to steal a base and slide into second – do that kind of stuff and see how I feel,’’ Volpe said. “Those are kind of the checkpoints I want to see out of myself.