Anthony Volpe has gotten the chance to bat leadoff lately and Aaron Boone says that there is more of that to come.
The rookie shortstop, who is off to a slow start after winning the job in spring training, is expected to be penciled in the leadoff spot again on Tuesday night when the Yankees open their series against the Los Angeles Angels.
Manager Aaron Boone said that with Giancarlo Stanton now on the IL, he may use Volpe more in the leadoff spot to give the Yankees’ order some length.
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“With Giancarlo down, that kind of takes out our 4-hitter for a while, so that was kind of the impetus of [hitting Volpe leadoff],” Boone said while appearing on the “Talkin’ Yanks” podcast. “I’ll have Volpe in the leadoff spot again tonight, DJ [LeMahieu] in the middle of the order to try and give a little length to our order. … I think certainly while Stanton’s out it’s something you can see more of.”
In three games batting leadoff, Volpe is 3-for-11 with a home run and double while he is 6-for-36 batting ninth. The home run came in the first inning on Friday night against the Twins — his first career dinger.
There is also the added benefit of hitting in front of Aaron Judge in the leadoff spot, but Boone also likes the fact that he can put LeMahiue in the middle of the lineup.
“Obviously DJ was the big offensive guy for us in the [Gerrit] Cole game the other day,” Boone said. “I feel like DJ’s skill set and presence in the 5-hole coming up with runners on base a fair amount of times — I’ve always liked him there but then he’s been such a good leadoff hitter for us.”
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