The Yankees have had a season full of injuries.  The most recent injury is to Jazz Chisholm Jr. This has been a disappointing season for the second baseman,  .232/.312/.403 is not what fans or Jazz expected.  He was, however, heating up before hitting the injured list, which was mainly due to avoiding hitting against left-handed pitchers who he struggled mightily with this season: .221/.268/.386 with 55 strikeouts in 155 plate appearances.  When a door closes, however, another opens.  The door has opened again for the much maligned Anthony Volpe.

Volpe has been a huge disappointment

Let’s not beat around the bush.  The vaunted prospect has been flat out awful for the Yankees during his career.  A .224/.287/.373 slash line is unacceptable even for a catcher.  His career has been marked by a failure to get on base and a boat load of strikeouts (518 in 2080 career plate appearances).  Yes, he has displayed power; but combined with a low average and questionable defense is why he lost his job.

Volpe hasn’t been as bad this season

There is a sense among Yankees fans that Volpe has been a disaster this year.  I disagree.  His .240 average is close to his career high and his .325 OBP is a career high.  Oddly, what has held him down has been a lack of home runs.  1 HR in 171 at bats is horrible, and it’s so out of character for Volpe.  If you give him a few more HRs, his slash line all of a sudden becomes league average.

Volpe has mashed in AAA

A lot of players go down to the minors and struggle, especially when learning new positions.  Volpe, however, has been on fire.  Overall, for the season he is slashing .264/.345/.561 in AAA and the bulk of that power is in the past few weeks.  He has absolutely done enough in the minors to warrant a return to the big leagues.

Volpe in essence gets a minimum of ten days to show the Yankees that he should compete to start at second base next season.  Jazz likely walks as a free agent and Volpe is a cheap internal option.  Hopefully Volpe can continue to get on base and add a little bit of the power he has discovered in AAA.  If he can do that, he will earn playing time and also give the Yankees another productive right-handed bat.  People love second changes, this is his …