Anthony Volpe, a former top prospect for the New York Yankees, used both of his challenges on consecutive strike calls in his first at-bat for Triple-A Scranton, a moment described as a "face-palm moment" in his effort to return to the major leagues. The incident occurred Wednesday during his initial plate appearance for the Scranton/Wilkes-Barre RailRiders.
After seeing three consecutive pitches called balls, Volpe believed the fourth pitch was ball four and challenged the umpire's strike call. The challenge was unsuccessful. On the subsequent pitch, Volpe challenged another strike call, which was also ruled a strike. This resulted in the team losing both of its challenges on just one batter.
Volpe was sent to the minor leagues earlier this month. The Yankees promoted top shortstop prospect George Lombard Jr. to the major league club around the same time. Despite the early challenge mishap, Volpe did manage to hit a triple later in the game. However, the RailRiders lost to the Lehigh Valley IronPigs by a score of 11-3.
Since his demotion, Volpe has performed well offensively, batting .304 with a double, a triple, and a home run in seven games. He has recorded at least one hit in each of those games. During his time with the major league club this season, Volpe hit .240 with a .325 on-base percentage, but his .322 slugging percentage was a career-low, with only one home run in 56 games.
Lombard, meanwhile, has had a strong start in the majors, hitting .320 with a .953 OPS in his first seven games. He also had a notable experience with the ABS system, successfully challenging two strike-three calls to earn a walk.
Volpe has reportedly been working at second base since his reassignment to the minors, which may indicate the Yankees' future plans for him within the organization.