The 11's had a good weekend.
New Yorkers will remember Jalen Brunson dropping 40+ in a closeout game for the rest of their lives, but, on a much smaller level, in what amounts to the biggest game of the regular season thus far for the Yankees, Anthony Volpe came up big. For all the hate he gets — and full disclosure, I've been pretty critical of Volpe between social media and my SI pieces after being patient with him for so long — he should get his flowers for Sunday.
He came up clutch in two different spots. The first run he drove in, he did so with two strikes on him in the second inning. It was a 96.5 MPH liner. The other came with two outs in the sixth. The ball came off his bat at 99 MPH and drove in Max Schuemann, who put himself in scoring position thanks to Jazz.
Then there were the big defensive plays as well. He had two that were spectacular, but got eaten up by a ball at the bottom of the ninth that isn't so memorable considering what happened at the top of that inning.
Volpe is a long way from gaining anybody's trust. Even if he finally plays well enough, the years of underperformance will follow him around. Plus, it doesn't help that Jose Caballero is on the team and George Lombard Jr. is waiting in the wings. We'll see how this plays out. If this was a one-off, it was an important one.
@NyjMike I mean I think the issue is run defense. With the line backing core looking weak and our defensive line as it is I don’t think we’re going to be able to stop the run effectively.
Team Dominican Republic is bringing the vibes to the #WorldBaseballClassic 🇩🇴
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