Yankees‘ starting shortstop Anthony Volpe had a serious injury scare on Thursday night in the team’s 9–4 loss to the Los Angeles Angels. Volpe, who played 115 games this season so far, fouled a ball off his left foot, sending him tumbling to the ground. It was clear that he immediately felt pain, and the Yankees ended up pulling him from the game early for imaging.
The Yankees Dodged a More Serious Injury
Fortunately, Volpe’s x-rays came back clean, a relief that the injury isn’t anything serious. However, it could leave a shiny bruise that lasts a few days. Given the nature of the injury and the Yankees’ desire to give him some rest, it is unlikely that Volpe will play on Friday. They will face off against the Texas Rangers, and to fill his spot at shortstop, they may move Oswaldo Cabrera.
Fortunately, Volpe was in “good spirits,” manager Aaron Boone stated following the loss.
“He’s in pretty good spirits right now,” Boone said. “We’re treating it as a contusion. Hopefully, everything is alright, and he’s back out there.”
This season, Volpe is hitting .257/.304/.401, including 11 homers with 45 RBIs and 20 stolen bases. Post All-Star break, the Yankees’ young shortstop is hitting .320 with a .587 slugging rate, finally finding his groove and picking up the pace, so the injury couldn’t have been timed any worse.
A Defensive Maestro
Defensively, the 23-year-old has been one of the best shortstops in the game, hosting a .974 fielding percentage with four defensive runs saved and 12 outs above average. I would fully expect either Cabrera or Jazz Chisholm to feature at shortstop, with the former being the more likely candidate.
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The 25-year-old utility man is hitting .243 this season with eight homers and 34 RBIs. He’s been a solid supplementary option, and this is the exact type of scenario when Boone calls on him to help fill a vacancy.