Reporter's ridiculous Anthony Volpe question for George Lombard Jr. sours Yankees vibes

On a night when the Yankees hit their first grand slam of the season (courtesy of rookie George Lombard Jr.) and secured a series victory over the Rockies, you'd think the focus would be on keeping pace with the Rays for the AL East title and distancing themselves from the Red Sox in the AL Wild Card picture.

But of course, there was Anthony Volpe news lurking beneath the surface. Reports suggested the former starting shortstop was getting promoted to the MLB roster after Jazz Chisholm Jr. was expected to land on the injured list. Volpe will likely split time with Jose Caballero at second base as they wait for Chisholm Jr. to return (hopefully before the end of the regular season).

As we know very well, Volpe and Lombard Jr. spent time together in the minor leagues this year. It wasn't for an awfully long time (only five games after Lombard Jr. was promoted because then Volpe was called up), but they definitely know one another.

Who knows if they're friends or not. Everybody knows Lombard Jr. essentially took Volpe's job (or, rather, Volpe lost his job by continuing to perform poorly) and that there's some level of "weird" feelings there.

You know what you definitely don't do, though? You don't ask a 21-year-old if it's going to be "awkward" seeing the player whose job he now holds.

George Lombard Jr. handled poor Yankees question with professionalism

Thankfully Lombard Jr. has been excellent with the media ever since his promotion and managed to handle the situation with class, but what are we doing here? Why wouldn't the question be "are you excited to share a clubhouse with Volpe again after getting that experience earlier this year?" or "what can you say about Volpe's influence after spending some time with him at Triple-A?"

Let us also mention that we are not blind to the fact that we have drummed up drama when it comes to Volpe. We are not claiming to be innocent from the discourse, though we will the overarching theme has been placing blame on the Yankees for allowing the situation to get out of hand as he struggled, battled through injury, and continued to fail in high-leverage moments over and over again.

This type of question in the heat of a moment following a season-defining moment is in a different league than blogging about the struggles of watching Volpe start every game for three straight years.

The bigger point, however, is even thinking about souring the vibes with the Yankees at the moment. Volpe is on an all-time heater at Triple-A and the Yankees will need his bat to produce if they want to keep pushing for a division title. Why would we even consider the possibility of awkwardness between two guys who will be sharing the middle infield?

The two need to coexist. The two need to produce. The two need to stay focused with Aaron Judge back in the fold and a division race coming down to the wire. They don't need troubling thoughts brewing in the back of their minds, and this question served no other purpose than to do exactly that.

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