Yankees Test Anthony Volpe at Third Base in Playoff Prep Anthony Volpe started at third base for the first time in his MLB career as the Yankees explore postseason roster flexibility. The move comes as New York also evaluates injured players like Giancarlo Stanton and Ryan Weathers for the wild-card series. The New York Yankees started Anthony Volpe at third base for the first time in his major league career Friday in a 10-2 loss to the Orioles. The experiment is designed to give Volpe more positional flexibility for the postseason, according to manager Aaron Boone. Volpe saw almost no action at the hot corner. The only ball hit his way in the ninth inning struck the bag and flew over his head, giving him no chance to make a play. Boone still called the game valuable for Volpe.Not a lot of action over there, but there is something to be said for being in there and thinking through the situations and moving and setting up how you are supposed to, Boone said. Volpe started at shortstop in the nightcap of the doubleheader. Volpe said he felt comfortable at third base. He credited third baseman Ryan McMahon, infield coach Dan Fiorito, Triple-A infield coach Gil Velasquez and former teammate Oswaldo Cabrera for helping him learn the position.Yankees searching for third base stabilityNo matter where you play, you got to anticipate and know where you got to be. I feel like I have picked it up, Volpe said. The Yankees have been searching for stability at third base. Ryan McMahon has received most of the reps there this season, especially after the team reduced the usage of Amed Rosario, whose bat and glove regressed heavily.Jose Caballero took over during McMahon's brief injured list stint but has mostly ceded the position back. McMahon has struggled mightily offensively and has regressed from a Gold Glove-caliber defender to a merely average one. That has opened the door for someone else to take the position in October. Volpe could be an option, though he seems unlikely to start at third base in the playoffs.Volpe positional flexibility aids playoff optionsHaving it in his back pocket gives him even more positional flexibility after transitioning from shortstop to second base at Triple-A. That versatility could allow the Yankees to get more aggressive in using pinch hitters and pinch runners in the AL Wild Card Series against the Red Sox. Volpe has played 93 innings at second base since being promoted back to the majors, recording 2 Defensive Runs Saved and 1 Out Above Average while looking clean and crisp.In three of his four major league seasons, Volpe has graded out positively defensively while playing almost exclusively at shortstop. In 2023, 2024 and 2026 combined, he had 25 Defensive Runs Saved, 21 Outs Above Average and a 14 Fielding Run Value. The lone down year was 2025, when he played through a torn labrum after an ill-fated dive on his non-throwing arm in May.His immediate bounce-back after labrum surgery this season proved that 2025 was a fluke rather than spontaneous regression. Still, with George Lombard Jr. grading out even better at shortstop in the minors, Volpe was demoted in early August and asked to try other positions. Most players who can handle shortstop tend to be even better at second and third base. Volpe's range is his best attribute.Since entering the league in 2023, he has registered 10 runs of value off his range, which is higher than his actual total Fielding Run Value of 8. Removing his compromised 2025 data, he has 15 FRV worth of range value, while his arm and double-play ability are both in the negatives. At third base, Volpe would be very good at knocking down balls and snagging them to his left and right, potentially preventing doubles down the left field line.But his arm has been a big negative at shortstop, which raises questions about third base, a position that typically yields long throws. Volpe's arm strength has consistently been mediocre, averaging between 81 and 82 mph entering this year. The average shortstop throw in the majors is 86.2 mph. The average third baseman throw is 84.9 mph, dispelling the belief that third basemen need equally strong arms.At 81-82 mph, Volpe would be below average at third base, ranking 38th of 53 third basemen with at least 50 throws, just above Kazuma Okamoto. Looking at third basemen in Volpe's arm-strength range, the results are mixed. Alex Bregman and Caleb Durbin are among the best defenders at their position despite modest arm strength, while Hao-Yu Lee and the Athletics' Max Muncy have been poor.Arm strength may not matter as much as believed if a player has good range. Having a good first baseman at scooping helps. Paul Goldschmidt is one of the best of his generation at it, while Luis Garcia Jr. is mediocre. The Athletics' Nick Kurtz is significantly better than Boston's Willson Contreras and Chicago's Michael Busch.Yankees hold postseason tryouts before playoffsIf the Yankees deem arm strength is not an issue, there should be no reservations about deploying Volpe at third base in the playoffs. Before Friday's doubleheader, the Yankees held the equivalent of postseason tryouts. Giancarlo Stanton and Trent Grisham faced Ryan Weathers, with all three trying to show they are healthy enough for the wild-card roster. Weathers threw one inning and about 20 pitches, his first time facing hitters since suffering a left forearm flexor strain last month.He looks healthy, that is what I took away, Boone said. Looks like Ryan stuff-wise. He was up to 96 mph with the velocity. A little scattered there in his inning, but stuff looked good.Whether he is an option for the first round or not, that will be the conversation we have here in the next day or two. Stanton and Grisham faced live pitching for the second time in three days. Stanton has not played in a game for five months because of three calf strains but is in consideration to make the roster as a pinch hitter.Obviously we will talk to G, see where he is at, mentally, physically, all that, Boone said. But having the threat there is real. Grisham has been sidelined for three weeks with a hamstring strain but could make the roster as a fourth outfielder. He is knocking on that door too, Boone said.He has checked a lot of the boxes and gone through his running progressions. So he is very much in play and in the conversation too. The Yankees promoted Brendan Beck, Yerry de los Santos and Alexander Cornielle to eat innings across the doubleheader, protecting the rest of their pitching staff ahead of the postseason. Carlos Lagrange was not called up to throw.He threw live Wednesday in Somerset, N.J. , as part of the stay-ready group and is not far removed from a shoulder sprain. He had an injury, and he has just started throwing lives again, Boone said. He threw live two days ago, so he is not in play right now.Could be down the road, but he is not in play yet. With Sunday's regular-season finale in jeopardy because of a nor'easter, Lagrange seems doubtful to appear in a regular-season game. Fernando Cruz, who has a partially torn UCL, was transferred to the 60-day injured list Friday to make room on the 40-man roster for Cornielle. The move essentially rules him out for the entire postseason despite his attempt to make a late-season comeback.Boone said he did not know what Aaron Judge, who has a calf strain, was doing Friday as far as baseball goes.