ATLANTA -- The first rule of surviving as a young player in New York: block out the noise. That’s why Anthony Volpe says he doesn’t pay attention to outside chatter.
When snippets do reach the clubhouse, the Yankees' shortstop insists that external pressure pales in comparison to what he already puts on himself.
"I know what I’ve got to do,” said Volpe, who enjoyed the first multihomer game of his career on Saturday, leading the Yankees to a 12-9 victory over the Braves at Truist Park. “Any of the stuff on the outside doesn’t even come close to the standard I hold myself to. Even on a good night, you’ve got to go right back to work."
The noise has grown louder around Volpe, who is grinding through a difficult third season marked by a dip in his batting average and questions about his defense.
But comments on social media or call-in radio don’t carry significant weight for the Yankees, who have steadfastly supported Volpe, believing his performance exceeds his stat line -- and that better days are yet to come.
"I see a young guy that’s come out and played really good defense, no matter how he was swinging it,” said Trent Grisham, who launched a go-ahead grand slam in the ninth inning off Raisel Iglesias. “To see him come out and hit two homers is awesome.”
Perhaps Saturday’s comeback -- in which Volpe matched his career high with four RBIs -- will be remembered as the turning point of his season.
Trailing 5-0 after Will Warren was knocked out in the fourth inning, Volpe connected for a two-run shot off Wander Suero, jumpstarting the rally.
"I feel like over the last week, once a game or twice a game, he’s hitting some balls on the screws,” manager Aaron Boone said. “Tonight he hit ‘em where they can’t catch them.”
Though Volpe entered Saturday’s action with just nine hits in his last 99 at-bats (.121) dating to June 15, he insisted the slump never shook his focus.
"I know it’s just part of the game, part of baseball,” Volpe said. “I’m so confident in my work and my process that nothing changes. … I go through the team. So when we win, I’m happy. When we lose, I’m not.”
That sentiment was echoed by Warren, who said it, “eats at [Volpe] when he feels like he’s not doing what he feels like he should do.”
"We see the behind-the-scenes work,” Warren said. “He’s putting in work. He knows his thought process is good. To see it click tonight, it’s really nice, and hopefully it just keeps going.”
The Yankees sent nine batters to home plate in a four-run sixth, which included a deep Volpe sacrifice fly amid what Boone described as “a lot of tremendous, tough, gritty at-bats” to “keep the pressure on them.”
Cody Bellinger blasted a long solo homer greeting Pierce Johnson in the seventh. Volpe’s game-tying homer came off Dylan Lee in the eighth, shortly after Luke Weaver pitched out of a bases-loaded, one-out mess left for him by Jonathan Loáisiga.
"Especially in the bullpen late, you just feel like you can’t sit there and be a spectator,” Weaver said. “You’ve got to know this team will come back at any point, string together some hits, the big homer by Grish. There’s not one guy in the lineup that’s going to go up there and not give something competitive.”
The comeback let Warren off the hook on a night when he struggled to contain his emotions. The meter still running on a fourth inning that had gone on far too long, Warren punched the dugout roof, then inspected his pitching hand for damage.
Warren said his hand was fine, but the Braves fattened his stat line; Michael Harris II and Ozzie Albies homered off the rookie right-hander, who has seen mixed results this month, with two solid efforts sandwiched between a pair of clunkers.
"It was really good -- until it wasn’t,” Boone said.
Still, Saturday’s rally provided an important reminder for the pitching staff: keep it close, and this lineup will give you a shot.
"I think it just shows and encourages everybody that we’re in every game. We have a lot of fight,” Grisham said. “Every starter and every bullpen guy knows this offense is going to keep going and not quit.”