Yankees infielders Jazz Chisholm Jr. and Anthony Volpe forming a keystone bond
Yankees Anthony Volpe and Jazz Chisolm on the field during their spring training game against the Detroit Tigers at George M. Steinbrenner Field in Tampa, Fla., on Sunday, Feb. 23, 2025. Credit: Newsday/Thomas A. Ferrara
TAMPA, Fla.
Anthony Volpe, heading into Year 3 of his Yankees experience, remains very much on the major-league learning curve.
Now that Jazz Chisholm Jr. is his double-play partner, it’s like sitting next to the flashiest and funniest kid on campus. But the classroom is Steinbrenner Field, and the two are trying to create some chemistry over the next month before the hard launch on Opening Day.
It shouldn’t be too difficult. Volpe played beside Chisholm for three months last season, so they’re not strangers. The Marlins import happily switched to third base, a brand-new position, after the deadline trade that brought him to the Bronx. Chisholm excelled there, too, making a number of plays that highlighted his elite defensive skills.
Sharing the middle of the diamond, however, is more than just a geographic shift. The best double-play tandems possess almost a telepathic link, anticipating where the other will be in nearly every situation.
The most effective way to do that in spring training?
“Jazz has kind of been joined at the hip with Volpe,” manager Aaron Boone said. “Kind of following him everywhere he goes. Making sure they do things together. I’ll pair those two a lot, as much as I can in spring training.”
One is rarely spotted without the other as the Yankees rotate from field to field at the Tampa facility. About 90% of the time we’ve seen them outside of the active drills or games, they’ve been laughing together. Volpe can be tougher to pin down in group settings, vanishing among the navy-blue BP tops, but once you find Chisholm — maybe from the sunlight flashing off his bejeweled necklace — the kid shortstop is only a few feet away.
Chisholm’s impact is inescapable, but Volpe is holding firm on the stylistic front. While Chisholm bounces from the clubhouse with cap askew, narrow-framed skinny sunglasses and multicolored gloves that pop in pink, teal, blue and silver, Volpe stays with the New Jersey high school chic — buttoned-up, tucked-in, modest chain and his gloves in only two natural shades: tan or black.
When the two take the field, whether it’s playing catch or sharing a hitting group, it’s hard to tell if Volpe is working out with Chisholm or marveling at him. Even for baseball, the two seem to be having too much fun.
“I think in every way, he’s just one of a kind,” Volpe said. “I’ll never meet another guy like him . . . Just his personality, how infectious it is and the energy he brings every day.”
The easy mistake with Chisholm is to believe that all that eye-catching flair somehow detracts from the substance. That couldn’t be further from the truth. On Saturday, long after his teammates had disappeared, Chisholm stayed in the dugout to take part in an after-hours pure baseball discussion, a lively debate involving Alex Rodriguez, Reggie Jackson, CC Sabathia, Willie Randolph and Omar Minaya.
Chisholm stared wide-eyed as the group debated a number of topics, including the best righty-lefty slugging combos in MLB history. Standing among Hall of Famers, World Series champs and MVPs, Chisholm, 27, with five years in the bigs, soaked up the scene like a sponge. The next day, he still couldn’t believe it happened.
“I’m a student of the game,” he said, smiling.
Over on the other side of second base, Volpe is studying him. He won a Gold Glove in his rookie season and was a finalist last year, but Volpe has never teamed up with a talent like Chisholm. His previous partner, Gleyber Torres — now with the Tigers — was a frustrating mix of blunted potential and casual indifference. Chisholm is a lightning bolt, and he stirs memories in Volpe of another Yankees All-Star at that position.
“He has probably one of the best arms in the infield I’ve ever played with,” Volpe said. “Just on those turns, knowing that he’s going to give it his best shot. And then from the range standpoint, he’s already coming over to shortstop and wants to make the Robinson Cano [cross-body throw] play. So it’s really exciting to see what he’s capable of. And then just over the course of a whole season, staying on top of each other, being consistent.”
Consistency is always the biggest challenge. And as much as Boone values Chisholm for his sizzling enthusiasm, the manager also understands the need to keep those flames contained. The Yankees aren’t the stoic, no-beard bunch anymore. That law was amended with Friday’s surprise announcement by Hal Steinbrenner. But Boone, now entering his eighth year in neatly pressed pinstripes, is still getting a grip on how the Jazz Experience blends with the Bronx corporate mindset.
“Obviously, there’s things we do here a little bit different that you got to conform to a little bit,” Boone said. “So I have those conversations with Jazz every now and then. But I also don’t want him to lose that spark that he has, that swag that he has.
"I like to remind him every now and then . . . that I want the focus to be on how good of a player you are, not the other things you’re doing. When those other things are at their best, they bring an energy to the ballpark every day and I don’t want that lost. But also making sure he stays in the lines, too.
“He’s been awesome, man. He’s really engaging and smart, and I’m a fan.”
So is Volpe, and that vibe between him and Chisholm should make for some spectacular duets this summer.
David Lennon is an award-winning columnist, a voter for baseball's Hall of Fame and has covered six no-hitters, including two perfect games.
