The New York Yankees needed a boost after Thursday’s 11-2 rout of the Minnesota Twins. And Anthony Volpe and Aaron Judge were the ones to please.
The rookie shortstop and defending AL MVP hit back-to-back home runs in the bottom of the first inning of Friday’s game against the Twins.
It was the first home run of Volpe’s career and the 225th of Judge’s time in the MLB.
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Back-to-back jacks served as revenge after the Twins recorded nine runs in the top of the first inning in the series opener.
Anthony Volpe was moved to the top of the New York Yankees’ batting order opposite No. 2 hitter Aaron Judge in an effort to break the rookie out of his season-opening doldrums, and likely get him better pitches.
The idea worked when Volpe took his opening offer from Twins starter Louie Varland over the left field wall. Judge stepped forward, and a pitch later deposited an explosion in the right-center seats.
It was an indication of what could be a tremendous pairing of the two players at the top of the lineup for a long time to come.
Volpe is struggling to get out of his early-season hole after surprisingly being named the team’s starting shortstop after a strong spring training. The longtime Yankees fan is hitting .175 after his home run.
The 21-year-old packs a power punch. In his two full minor league seasons, he hit 27 and 21 home runs, respectively. He also had three come-and-go players in just 53 at-bats during spring training.
Judge’s home run brought his batting average back above the .300 mark at .306. It was the fifth blast of his 2023 campaign as he looks to continue his AL-record 62 bombings from last season.
Of course, for a New York Yankees fan base who rubs everyone else’s face or yells that the sky is falling depending on the result of the last game, or even the last inning, the efforts of Anthony Volpe and Aaron Judge have the needle planted firmly back on the happy side of the scale.
The Yankees just scored two runs in the first inning on Friday. The Twins scored nine in the first on Thursday.
Anthony Volpe, Aaron Judge could be a powerful 1-2 combo for the New York Yankees
If all goes to plan, the Volpe/Judge 1-2 coup could do a lot of damage to rival clubs for years to come. Volpe is about to turn 22, Judge is a few days away from turning 31.