CLEVELAND — In the heat, Emmanuel Clase hit a game-tying double in the ninth inning with a 160 mph cutter.
Anthony Volpe is the latter.
The Yankees’ second-year shortstop continued his strong start to the season Sunday, with three hits and one walk, including an impressive at-bat against Clase, as the Yankees lost 8-7 to the Guardians in 10 overtime innings. .
“He squares it every time.” [time]” manager Aaron Boone said. “I would argue that he’s been hit with rather tough luck. He makes good at-bats every time. Clase is obviously as good as he is on the back end. It was a great at-bat to tie the game. ”
Volpe had never played against Clase before Sunday, but asked his teammates for advice on how the Guardians closer’s triple-digit cutter moves before stepping into the box.
With Oswaldo Cabrera leading off with two outs, Volpe hit a 2-on-1 cutter over the top of the plate and into the opposite gap to tie the game.
“He’s got great stuff,” Volpe said. “He just tried to stick to his approach.”
His veteran teammates were impressed.
“Anything that has three digits and moves like a cutter is almost impossible to hit,” Aaron Judge said. “But he had a great swing, didn’t do too much and just tried to stay in it. You get rewarded for doing things like that.”
That was exactly what the Yankees showed Volpe to be earlier this season. Volpe entered the game with a batting average of .382 and an OPS of 1.041 in 15 games, tying him with Juan Soto for the team’s top hits (21).
He also continues to feel comfortable in the leadoff position, going 6-for-15 with five walks and four RBIs in four games since the transfer.
One of the main focuses of Volpe adjusting his swing in the offseason was to be able to better cover a variety of pitches and locations than he did in his rookie season.
Claes’ double shot was a perfect example of that for the soon-to-be 23-year-old.
“I can’t believe it,” the judge said. “For him to come in there and fight some tough pitches and… hit the ball into the right field seats like that and it went over his head. … It was impressive. He was great all season. It was impressive to watch, and I think we’re going to keep watching it.”
