While Aaron Judge may get a game off, the New York Yankees could integrate another well-known name into their lineup on Thursday night against the visiting Colorado Rockies.
Judge might rest following two games in his return from a fractured rib, but Anthony Volpe could return to the lineup as a second baseman as the Yankees (83-62) vie for a sweep of a three-game series against Colorado.
Judge went 2-for-7 in those two games and contributed a pair of singles in Wednesday’s 6-1 victory, which was highlighted by George Lombard’s first career grand slam, in the third inning.
New York will go for the sweep without Jazz Chisholm Jr., who is headed to the 10-day injured list with a sprained right thumb.
Chisholm injured his thumb on a head-first slide at second base in the eighth inning on Tuesday. He will be shut down from any baseball activity for seven to 10 days at a time when he was hitting .391 (18-for-46) in his past 15 games.
“I feel like he has been really putting together some of his best at-bats of the season for an extended stretch,” Yankees manager Aaron Boone said Wednesday afternoon. “So definitely a blow, but hopefully one that the time down here hopefully gets this thing right and puts us in position to impact us moving forward.”
Jose Caballero started at second base Wednesday, but Volpe is expected to be called up from the minors and would replace Chisholm on the roster and could split time at second.
Volpe hit .240 with one homer and 19 RBIs in 56 games at shortstop before being replaced by Lombard on Aug. 4.
Since getting optioned to Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre, Volpe is hitting .295 with 10 homers and 21 RBIs in 27 games.
“I feel like he’s in a really good spot,” Boone said. “He’s been really productive down there and playing really well. He has taken well to the other positions. So we’ll see.”
The Rockies (55-90), meanwhile, need eight wins in their final 17 games to avoid a fourth straight 100-loss season. Colorado also hopes to avoid a seventh straight road loss.
On Wednesday, the Rockies were held to one run and four hits over six innings by New York starter Will Warren.
“He put his fastball where he wanted to. We didn’t have an answer for him,” Rockies manager Warren Schaeffer said.
Colorado has scored its runs in the series via home runs from Connor Norby, Hunter Goodman and Adael Amador. Otherwise, the Rockies have struck out 24 times in the series and are hitless in five at-bats with runners in scoring position.
New York left-hander Max Fried (4-4, 2.73 ERA) will make his third start since returning from a second injured list stint due to a bone bruise in his left elbow.
Fried likely will see his pitch count increase gradually, as he threw 72 pitches in 5 2/3 innings Friday in San Diego after throwing 63 over 3 2/3 innings Aug. 29 against Boston.
Since returning from missing two months due to his first IL stint, Fried is 0-1 with a 1.85 ERA in seven starts.
He is 2-2 with a 3.20 ERA in seven career appearances (six starts) against Colorado.
Right-hander Ryan Feltner (5-9, 5.91 ERA), who is 0-3 with a 7.32 ERA in his past four starts, will face the Yankees for the first time on Thursday.
Feltner has allowed only one of his 19 homers in those four starts but has permitted 26 hits in that span, including Friday when he allowed four runs on seven hits in five innings in his team’s 7-6 loss to St. Louis.
–Field Level Media
