The Yankees optioned Volpe to Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre following Monday's 13-7 loss to the Cardinals.
Volpe didn't play Monday but had gone 0-for-11 with three strikeouts in his last three games, bringing his slash line down to an unremarkable .240/.325/.322 over 194 plate appearances in the big leagues. Rather than keeping Volpe on hand as part of a timeshare at shortstop with Jose Caballero, the Yankees plan to promote top prospect George Lombard from Triple-A to take over as their everyday option at the position, according to Jack Curry of YES Network. Caballero, meanwhile, is expected to shift into a utility role, and Volpe will get the chance to play on a regular basis at Scranton/Wilkes-Barre.