Right time for Volpe to start now

There was no doubt Anthony Volpe was going to play for the Yankees this season.

The question was when. Was it going to be on Opening Day or play during the summer to make the transition easy?

Yankees general manager Brian Cashman hoped to integrate Volpe slowly by having him get everyday work at Triple-A Scranton Wilkes-Barre for a few months and then promote him to the Yankees in June. This had nothing to do with service time in this case. This was about moving him along slowly rather than rushing him out of the blue.

The problem with that thinking was Volpe made that decision difficult for Cashman. The 21-year-old Yankees rookie shined in spring training, producing a .314/.417/.647 slash line with a 1.064 OPS, six doubles, one triple, three homers, five RBIs and five stolen bases. He also made plays at shortstop.

It was too hard to ignore. From reading about his play and how he conducted himself, he earned himself a place on the 25-man roster as the Yankees travel north to start their regular season with a six-game homestand against the San Francisco Giants and the Philadelphia Phillies.

After almost a home run shy of a cycle against the Phillies on Saturday for that last impression, Volpe made the team on Sunday in an emotional announcement to him by Cashman and Yankees manager Aaron Boone that was posted on the Yankees' social media channels. He will be the starting shortstop on Opening Day against the San Francisco Giants on Thursday at Yankee Stadium.

It’s something Yankee fans can all celebrate. It’s always nice to see young players do their thing in the majors or pros in sports. Everyone loves new toys. The Yankees get to promote a star in the making. Maybe the Watchung native becomes the new Derek Jeter and leads the Yankees to a new dynasty. It’s going to be fun to see his growth this season and beyond.

Too often, the Yankees have relied on way too many older players to win games. This made them hard to root for, and this made them unwatchable. In recent years, the Yankees incorporated youth into the roster such as Aaron Judge, Gleyber Torres and Oswaldo Cabrera along with other players. They know in today’s baseball that youth needs to be served for teams to win games.

There was no reason to wait for Volpe to be called up. The time is now. The sooner he learns, the better he and the Yankees will be.

There’s no doubt there will be growing pains for him this season, and that’s okay. Not many players are going to start out like Mike Trout or Aaron Judge. If anything, failures or struggles could be a fertilizer as St. John’s coach Rick Pitino likes to put it. Volpe could be served well by learning from his struggles.

Volpe has the makeup to handle the grind of the majors. His even-keel approach could serve as a plus for him since this is not going to be easy. It’s why the Yankees did not hesitate to have him on the Opening Day roster.

The Yankees need to do their part in nurturing him. This means he is going to have to play through his struggles whether it’s at the beginning of the season or midseason or the end. It’s going to happen when he slumps. That’s part of the grind of a major league season. To send him down would be counterproductive.

Volpe is ready to go based on his spring training play. Who knows where he goes from here? That’s the beauty of all this. Everyone wants to know, and it’s not just the Yankees and their fans. It’s everyone in Major League Baseball. Does he continue his hot play to start the season?

Volpe’s play may have been the bright spot of their spring training. The Yankees could use all the good news they can get as it’s been a trying spring training for them. They lost Frankie Montas maybe for the season after undergoing shoulder surgery. Carlos Rodon is serving time on the injured list with a forearm muscle strain, and now Luis Severino is going to miss time with another right lat strain injury.

There’s so much to like about Volpe. His humility stands out. He likes to listen and get better. He knows he doesn’t have the answers. He’s a baseball player in the sense he grinds it out every day. It’s no wonder he is a favorite among his teammates in the clubhouse.

How he handled himself when he received the news that he made the team should make the Yankees feel comfortable that they made the right decision to call him up.

Quite frankly, this decision did not have to be complicated. It shouldn’t have taken urging from the public to have the Yankees make the decision.

This was a baseball decision that was made of common sense.

You can read Leslie's Jersey Sporting News columns on Mondays, Tuesdays and Fridays.