Anthony Volpe entered play mired in a deep slump that had turned his breakout season into what statistically had been a middling one.
He also entered play Wednesday in a lineup spot that has become customary, but his hold on batting leadoff appears to be slipping.
Manager Aaron Boone acknowledged before the Yankees played the Reds in The Bronx that the No. 1 spot in the lineup is a “fluid situation.”
Volpe has owned that slot since a quick first few weeks of the season helped him claim leadoff beginning on April 10.
The righty-hitting Volpe, who entered play in an 0-for-14 funk, was atop the lineup against opposing southpaw Andrew Abbott.
Boone relied heavily on his righty hitters, batting J.D. Davis cleanup and inserting Jahmai Jones at designated hitter while sitting lefty-swinging Ben Rice.
The lineup for Thursday’s matinee against righty Frankie Montas will be much different — and may not include a leadoff-hitting Volpe, whose hot start has given way to a prolonged cold streak that has been heightened by the brilliance of the two hitters batting behind him.
Boone wants his leadoff hitter — who sets the table for two superstars in Juan Soto (.435 OBP) and Aaron Judge (.440 OBP), who entered action as the best on-base machines in baseball — to reach often so he can be driven in.
In his first 75 games atop the order, Volpe hit just .242 with a .294 OBP with four home runs.
“Hopefully he’s at the end of a little downturn of a week or 10 days,” Boone said of Volpe, who entered play leading the majors in plate appearances. “Hopefully we look up in two weeks and he’s hot, and those numbers change. That’s kind of the ebb and flow of the season.
“Still a very young player, figuring out who he is as a hitter. … But it’s something I’m paying attention to, and we’ll see.”
If not Volpe, who? In a struggling Yankees lineup, Boone does not like the idea of bumping up Soto to leadoff and hitting Judge second.
It is possible Rice, who has shown a good feel for the strike zone and an ability to work quality at-bats, becomes another youngster bumped up to No. 1. The 25-year-old owned a .364 OBP and smacked three doubles in his first 13 major league games.
Beyond Rice, the choices are thin. DJ LeMahieu has shown little in the month of play since being activated from the injured list.
Alex Verdugo has become another hole in the order. Perhaps Gleyber Torres, who opened the year as table-setter to Soto and Judge, can rise again.
Torres’ bat was mostly silent through three months of the season but entered play 7-for-17 in his past four games.
“He’s such a talented hitter,” Boone said of Torres. “He’s making as good swing decisions as he has in his career, but he’s also missing on some pitches that he’s historically done well [with] in his career.
“These last four games have been much more in line with who he’s been.”
Since rising in the order, Volpe’s production has tanked. In his first 11 games of the season, in which he hit fifth, sixth or seventh, the 23-year-old hit .375 with a .444 OBP, showing off a revamped swing that helped him hit to all fields.
In the middle or at the end of the lineup, Volpe walked five times and struck out nine, consistently working long at-bats and taking advantage of his spot in the order: If No. 7-hitting Volpe reached, the opposing pitcher would have to deal with, say, Jose Trevino.
At No. 1, Volpe does not have the same luxury.
He has seen more strikes hitting leadoff because opponents are fearful of the hitters on deck.
“He gets attacked in the strike zone, especially early in the count,” Boone said of Volpe, whose OPS had fallen to .695 entering play. “You don’t want to fall behind him, you don’t want to put him on base, obviously, with what’s coming up next. I think teams aggressively go after him in the strike zone.”