Anthony Volpe is back, but probably not for long as José Caballero intends on keeping Yankees' shortstop spot
Volpe's story has been a fly in the ointment, one of few unsavory storm clouds among an otherwise sunny start for New York.
BALTIMORE — They never took away Anthony Volpe’s locker. Typically, if a player is jettisoned to the minors, their belongings go too. That’s standard protocol.
For instance, when the Yankees optioned 2024 AL Rookie of the Year Luis Gil to Triple-A Scranton earlier this season, his sliver of clubhouse was cleaned out and reassigned to someone else. All the assorted baseball bric-a-brac in Gil’s locker was piled into duffel bags or cardboard boxes and sent with him to scenic Lackawanna County or put into storage. But Volpe, and his things, were given special treatment.
When the former top prospect and three-year big leaguer was demoted to Triple-A on May 3 after completing a lengthy minor league rehab assignment, the nameplate above was not removed. Surely, his crucial pieces of gear ended up in Scranton as well, but that spiffy wooden cubby, Volpe’s small slice of big league real estate, remained undeniably his. Who exactly made that call — a home clubhouse attendant, general manager Brian Cashman, captain Aaron Judge — is unclear.
Perhaps it was simply inertia; big leaguers rehabbing in the minors typically retain a spot in the room. What’s certain, however, was the unspoken message his untouched locker sent: This kid will be back. He is thought of, by this group at least, as a big leaguer.
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