George Lombard Jr. reacts to Anthony Volpe’s return to the NY Yankees

The wait is over: the New York Yankees are bringing back one of the key shortstops who helped propel the team into deep October baseball last fall. Anthony Volpe is set to rejoin the big-league roster after manager Aaron Boone recalled him from Triple-A. Asked about the promotion—and whether Volpe’s return might create an “awkward” dynamic—top prospect George Lombard Jr. brushed off any talk of tension.

“We’re all in the baseball world. We know what the baseball world is like, anything can happen. Excited to have him, excited to work together,” Lombard Jr. told reporters following his first home run in a Yankees uniform.

Beyond the intrigue surrounding Lombard Jr. and Volpe’s return, fans are keeping a close eye on team captain Aaron Judge. The slugger recently expressed some frustration with Boone over his workload management during the series against the Colorado Rockies.

Boone, well aware of the game-changing impact Judge brings down the stretch, hinted that the MVP candidate was being preserved for the upcoming Subway Series showdown against the New York Mets.

Volpe’s potential fit in the lineup

With MLB active rosters expanding to 28 players for the final stretch of the regular season, Volpe gives Boone a versatile tool to utilize over the remaining series.

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Defense was one of the primary areas under intense scrutiny during Volpe’s initial major-league stint. Since his demotion to Triple-A in May, he has made noticeable strides in the field, cutting down significantly on the costly errors that plagued his previous campaign.

However, his offensive production remains a work in progress. Volpe hit just .240 with one home run across 56 MLB games earlier this year. Still, his elite speed on the basepaths gives him immediate value, making him a lethal late-game pinch-running option in tight divisional and wild-card matchups.

Volpe’s stats since August in Triple-A

As the coaching staff looks for ways to integrate him, Volpe’s recent minor-league numbers provide a promising outlook. If Boone write him into the lineup for Thursday’s series finale against the Rockies, it could mark the beginning of a crucial redemption arc at the major-league level.

Here is a look at his Triple-A production since the start of August:

• Games Played: 27
• Batting Average (AVG): .295
• On-Base Percentage (OBP): .381
• Slugging Percentage (SLG): .642
• OPS: 1.023
• Home Runs (HR): 10
• Runs Batted In (RBI): 21
• Doubles (2B): 7
• Triples (3B): 1