Anthony Volpe enjoys the dish at the perfect time for the Yankees

KANSAS CITY, Mo. – The Yankees knew what to expect from Anthony Volpe on defense entering October.

What they would get from him offensively was more of a wild card.

But through the first three postseason games of his career, the shortstop had performed well in both facets, helping the Yankees get to the brink of advancing to the ALCS.

Beyond Volpe's defense, which helped save Luke Weaver in the eighth inning of Game 3 against the Royals on Wednesday, he has put together quality bats to provide a strong presence at the bottom of the lineup.

“The whole series (I was impressed),” manager Aaron Boone said Thursday before Game 4 at Kauffman Stadium. “I feel like he hit the ball on the button the whole series and a couple of good walks. Really excited. I really liked his work the week before (the ALDS). His (batting practice), his sim game stuff. Offensively, he is definitely exactly as he is at the moment and delivers good attacks.”

That led to him reaching base three times on Wednesday with a single and two runs, each with a full count.

He led off Seth Lugo in the fifth inning and quickly fell behind 2-0 before clawing his way back to 3-2 with a single up the middle.

He later scored a goal after a sacrifice throw from Juan Soto to make the final score 2-0.

In three games, Volpe had drawn four times and had a strikeout just once.

It was the first time since late April that he ran four times in three games.

“I definitely feel good,” Volpe said. “I feel like I control the zone and am in a good position to deal with mistakes.”

Even Volpe's outs were encouraging, hitting the ball hard – everything coming off his bat at 94 mph or more – including two flyouts on the warning track.

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Volpe spent most of the regular season in feast-or-famine mode at the plate, either on a hot streak or in a brutal slump and often not in between.

He struggled again through most of September, as the Yankees gave him two days off in just over a week and gave him game-winning hits late in a game against Oswaldo Cabrera and Jasson Dominguez in two other games.

At the end of the regular season, Volpe had finished with an on-base percentage of .293 (14th-lowest among 129 qualified batters) and an OPS of .657 (twelfth-lowest), but the Yankees remained confident that the 23rd-lowest Yearlings The old man would eventually be a zone-controlling hitter.

Entering his first postseason, the longtime Yankees fan stepped up to the plate in the pressure-filled moments on the field.

“I like what I see,” Boone said.

Then there is his defensive impact.

In three games, Volpe had two errant throws after making difficult plays on ground balls.

But he had played strong shortstop most of the time, including going to shallow center field to the right of second base to make a one-man diving catch on Vinnie Pasquantino's softliner in the eighth inning Wednesday night.

Right off the bat, Boone said he thought, “This is a slam dunk. Crap.”

The Royals would have had runners on the corners in a 3-2 game if one had been out.

Instead, it was the second out, and after Salvador Perez followed with a single (which would have tied the game), Weaver bailed out.

“I think Volpe is one of the more athletic guys I’ve ever seen,” Weaver said. “I think he walks around in them – it's like Reebok pumps. He just sets it up so it can start. That ball, that was a tough innings because they took some good swings and that would have certainly caused problems at that point. But the athleticism shows, like with our boys, and makes a big impression.”