Why Yankees 'don't fully believe' in Anthony Volpe amid George Lombard Jr. news

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Anthony Volpe may be running out of chances with the New York Yankees.

That's been said a lot over the past few years. But now, there's a top prospect waiting in the wings, potentially threatening to take some or all of Volpe's playing time.

On Wednesday, The Athletic's Chris Kirschner and Brendan Kuty examined Volpe's time on the field over the Yankees' last few series before the All-Star break.

It may be an indication that the Yankees are actively admitting (without saying it out loud) that they aren't too keen on the former first-round draft pick at shortstop right now.

"The Yankees have signaled they don’t fully believe in Anthony Volpe. In their biggest series of the season last week against the Tampa Bay Rays, Volpe started in one of the four games," Kirschner and Kuty wrote. "He then started in just one of the three games against the Washington Nationals. As of now, it’s clear he’s not viewed as a starter."

If Volpe is not at shortstop, the Yankees also have Jose Caballero to man the position.

"But José Caballero isn’t a much better option. Both Caballero and Volpe have a 95 wRC+," The Athletic's duo added. "Volpe has better underlying metrics and has graded out more favorably in the range-based defensive metric, Outs Above Average."

The bad news for Volpe is that top prospect George Lombard Jr. is looming. Definitely, he's ready for a Major League promotion.

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Lombard began a rehab assignment on Monday after returning from the IL. He missed some time with sprained fingers.

In 42 games at Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre, the 21-year-old is hitting .231/.381/.385 with four home runs and a .765 OPS.

"He might be a choice at some point," Yankees general manager Brian Cashman told reporters last week about Lombard.