David Lennon: Yankees' Anthony Volpe takes important step up ladder from 'rock bottom'
Yankees shortstop Anthony Volpe taking part in fielding drills during spring training at George M. Steinbrenner Field on Feb. 19 in Tampa, Fla. Credit: Newsday/J. Conrad Williams Jr.
TAMPA, Fla. — One swing. That’s all it took for everything to become crystal clear for Anthony Volpe.
Just how much the torn labrum inside his left shoulder impacted his ability to hit a baseball last season. The distance Volpe had traveled since the October surgery that left him at “rock bottom.”
And, perhaps most importantly, the overwhelming appreciation to finally swing a bat again, the way he’d done countless times, for nearly two decades, before the pop he heard inside his shoulder changed everything.
A few days ago, Volpe got the green light, and his eyes were opened.
“Literally my first swing,” Volpe told Newsday before Wednesday night’s game against the Nationals. “I felt what I wanted to feel. I could do it without my shoulder pinching or without any discomfort. That was a really great, amazing feeling.”
As Volpe speaks these words, he can barely contain a smile. Compare that to the hurting shortstop that played through gritted teeth for most of last season, taking multiple cortisone injections to mask the shoulder pain, pushing merely to get to the finish line.
There were rare glimpses of the boy-wonder shortstop between those anti-inflammatory shots, but the highlights were fleeting. Volpe batted .364 (4-for-11) in the Wild Card series win over the Red Sox — swatting a home run off Garrett Crochet — then crashed in the ALDS, going 1-for-15 with 11 strikeouts in the loss to the Blue Jays.
That was as far as Volpe’s shredded shoulder could carry him. The surgery was immediate at season’s end. Things got even darker for Volpe afterward.
“I’ve never really been injured or not ready or unable to play in my whole life,” Volpe said. “It feels like rock bottom. You literally work from zero. For the first half, I felt like I was recovering and rehabbing just from the trauma that I went through in the actual surgery.
“It was all mental before I could get to a physical spot where I could actually feel like I was improving. But I had so many great people around me to keep me in the moment, in the present — to not think too far in the past or think too far in the future. Just focus on the little things I could do every day that I really did — and do — believe are going to add up to getting back to where I want to be.”
Volpe was not in a good place last season, and the damage that he did to the shoulder diving for that ground ball back on May 3 wasn’t known publicly until months later — even if the numbers reflected something was wrong. His .768 OPS through the first 33 games plunged to .632 after the injury and his 19 errors were tied for third-most in the majors.
The stats are the stats, but Volpe soldiered on, wired to shake off the previous day in preparation for the next. At 24, he also thought himself invincible, which is why Volpe refused to acknowledge being hurt. He would overcome the pain like any other obstacle — without excuses.
“We play a tough game,” Volpe said. “It’s a tough season. It’s physically and mentally grueling. So I don’t think at any point I really allowed myself to think I had a chink in the armor, just because I feel like the confidence you need to go out there, perform and help the team win, I never allowed myself to think that anything could be wrong.”
Fittingly, it wasn’t until around Jan. 1 — the new year — that Volpe began to feel right again. Or at least trending in that direction. After a winter of wearing a sling, and his girlfriend driving him daily to Yankee Stadium for rehab, the range of motion was returning to Volpe’s shoulder. The hope was coming back, too.
“I felt terrible and guilty that I had to rely on other people, the people that are closest to me, willing to sacrifice whatever they had going on to help me,” Volpe said. “That meant the world.”
Now, Volpe is a full participant in spring training — with the exception of batting practice, as he’s currently limited to tee-and-toss in the cages. Volpe figures it will be another couple weeks before he’s ready for live BP, but he couldn’t be happier where he is at the moment. And it shows.
“You see a little bit of light in his eyes, like, I’m getting there,” manager Aaron Boone said.
Boone described Volpe affectionately as a “dog,” due to his relentless drive and singular focus. But this journey has forced Volpe to be more reflective, which doesn’t come easy to twenty-somethings.
The next big step? Making sure Volpe can dive again with the repaired shoulder, one of the last “checkpoints” in the process. First, Volpe will go through what was described to him as similar to UFC fighter rehab, preparing their shoulders and joints for impact.
“Just getting ready for unexpected force and being able to accept that,” Volpe said. “And then we’ll start to slide.”
Steinbrenner Field was where Volpe, as a 21-year-old rookie, aced his six-week audition to earn the Opening Day shortstop position. Now it’s the site of his comeback story, the launching pad for getting that job back. The Yankees are planning for a May return. Volpe is thinking April and already has a date in mind (he’s wary of hiccups so he’s keeping that to himself).
So I ask Volpe. After all this, has he ever been more anxious and excited to play baseball than he is right now?
“It’s crazy to say, but yeah, probably not,” Volpe said. “Just the appreciation and the gratitude you have for even the little things.”
Like picking up a bat and swinging without pain.
David Lennon is an award-winning columnist, a voter for baseball's Hall of Fame and has covered six no-hitters, including two perfect games.
