If the Yankees want to ensure they do not have a ball hit to third base against them in the playoffs, perhaps they should just put Anthony Volpe there.
They had Volpe start at the hot corner Friday for the first time in his big league career, and by the end of the 10-2 loss to the Orioles in the opener of a doubleheader, he was still waiting for his first real chance.
A ball was finally hit to third base in the ninth inning, except it hit the bag and flew over Volpe’s head, giving him no shot to make a play.
Otherwise, nothing came his way, and while he could start there again Sunday if the Yankees are not washed out, Aaron Boone still considered the game valuable for Volpe.
“Not a lot of action over there, but there’s something to be said for being in there and thinking through the situations and moving and setting up how you’re supposed to,” said Boone, who started Volpe at shortstop in the nightcap.
Volpe seems unlikely to start at third base in the playoffs, but he played there Friday so he could at least have it in his back pocket, which would give him even more positional flexibility after making the transition from shortstop to second base at Triple-A.
Having that versatility could allow the Yankees to get more aggressive in using pinch hitters and pinch runners in the AL Wild Card Series against the Red Sox.
“I felt comfortable,” said Volpe, who credited third baseman Ryan McMahon, infield coach Dan Fiorito, Triple-A infield coach Gil Velasquez and former teammate Oswaldo Cabrera for helping him get up to speed at the position.
“No matter where you play, you got to anticipate and know where you got to be. I feel like I’ve picked it up.”
Before Friday’s doubleheader, the Yankees held the equivalent of postseason tryouts — or perhaps prove-its — as Giancarlo Stanton and Trent Grisham faced Ryan Weathers, with all three trying to show they are healthy enough and ready to be on the wild-card roster.
Weathers, throwing one inning and about 20 pitches, was facing hitters for the first time suffering a left forearm flexor strain last month. Doing so Friday leaves the door open for him to be on the roster next week, which would give the bullpen a power lefty.
“He looks healthy, that’s what I took away,” Boone said. “Looks like Ryan stuff-wise. He was up to 96 [mph] with the velo[city]. A little scattered there in his inning, but just from my vantage point on the side, stuff looked good. … Whether [he’s an option for the] first round or not, that’ll be the conversation we have here in the next day or two.”
Stanton and Grisham, meanwhile, were facing live pitching for the second time in three days (and faced minor league lefty Xavier Rivas for more at-bats around Weathers’ inning). Despite not having played in a game for five months because of three calf strains, Stanton is in consideration to make the roster as a pinch hitter depending on how many position players the Yankees carry.
“Obviously we’ll talk to G, see where he’s at, mentally, physically, all that,” Boone said. “But having the threat there is real, and if we feel like he’s up to it and ready for it, the threat that we all know G is, we got to weigh that.”
Grisham has been sidelined for three weeks with a hamstring strain but could make the roster as a fourth outfielder (and potentially start in center against righties, with Spencer Jones moving to right).
“He’s knocking on that door too,” Boone said. “He’s checked a lot of the boxes and gone through his running progressions and things like that. So he’s very much in play and in the conversation too.”
The Yankees had 18 innings to cover Friday, but Carlos Lagrange was not called up to throw any of them. Across the two games, they promoted Brendan Beck, Yerry de los Santos and Alexander Cornielle to eat innings (Beck starting Game 1), allowing them to protect the rest of their pitching staff ahead of the postseason.
Lagrange, meanwhile, was not going to be available to pitch Friday after throwing live on Wednesday in Somerset, N.J., as part of the Yankees’ stay-ready group. The hard-throwing 23-year-old is still not far removed from a shoulder sprain, so the Yankees are being cautious with him even while keeping him in play to potentially be an option for a postseason roster.
“He had an injury, and he’s just started throwing lives again,” Boone said. “He threw live two days ago, so he’s not in play right now. Could be down the road, but he’s not in play yet.”
With Sunday’s regular-season finale in jeopardy because of the nor’easter — and the Yankees planning to call up Elmer Rodríguez for length if they play that game — Lagrange seems doubtful to appear in a regular-season game.
Fernando Cruz (partially torn UCL) was transferred to the 60-day injured list Friday (to make room on the 40-man roster for Cornielle), essentially ruling him out for the entire postseason despite his attempt to make a late-season comeback. … Boone said he did not know what Aaron Judge (calf strain) was doing Friday “as far as baseball goes
