Yankees' Anthony Volpe avoids the worst, for now, after injury scare Saturday vs. Rays

Yankees shortstop Anthony Volpe may have avoided the worst during Saturday’s game against the Rays — at least that’s the initial diagnosis.

With the Yankees up 2-1 in the eighth, Volpe ranged to his right on a grounder hit in the hole between short and third base. Volpe dove for the grounder, but his left shoulder slammed into the ground on the attempt. The third-year Yankee stayed on the ground for a noticeably long time as manager Aaron Boone and the trainers came out to tend to their infielder.

Aaron Judge and other members of the Yankees surrounded Volpe as the trainer put him through a series of tests on the field. Surprisingly, the team decided Volpe was good to stay in the game.

“Just felt like a pop in my shoulder,” Volpe explained after the game. “It happened quick and it was scary, but after that, I felt ok and had my strength.”

Volpe received an X-ray at Yankee Stadium, which came back clean, but it’s unknown if more tests will be done. Volpe says he’ll sleep and see how he feels on Sunday before there’s any thought of re-evaluation.

“Once he got up and moving around, he felt fine,” Boone said. “We wanted to make sure strength-wise he was in a good position and felt like he was.”

Volpe took swings underneath the dugout and his shoulder felt fine and is hopeful that he dodged a bullet but admits he’s never experienced that “pop” feeling before, so he has nothing to compare it to.

“I’ve never been in this situation, so it’s scary,” he said. “My movements feel good, just a weird play.”

Volpe finished the game, but the shortstop was in the spotlight for another reason in that eighth inning. The Rays had already tied the game at 2-2, but with runners on the corners and one out, Jose Caballero hit a grounder up the middle. Volpe ranged to his left and was in position to scoop up the ball, but it bobbled and all the Rays’ runners were safe, allowing the winning run to score.

“Just trying to make the play without securing the ball,” Volpe said.

“With Caballero running, that’s a game you got a chance to potentially turn a double play, but you got to be fast with it,” Boone said of Volpe’s error. “And probably a half step behind to really be able to turn the double play, probably just rushed trying to make it to the bag. I don’t think he’s going to turn it anyway, but I think that’s what happened when looking back at it.”

The Yankees will hold their breath with Volpe and hope he’s not seriously injured after placing Jazz Chisholm Jr. on the IL on Friday. Chisholm will likely be out for at least a month, so they can ill-afford to lose their other middle infielder during this stretch.

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