One day after receiving a cortisone shot in his left shoulder, slumping shortstop Anthony Volpe was out of the Yankees’ lineup for a second straight game Thursday against the Tigers.
Manager Aaron Boone said the injury, which Volpe originally suffered diving for a ball May 3 against the Rays, was diagnosed then as a “partial labrum tear.” Volpe aggravated the shoulder while diving again in Sunday’s game against the Blue Jays.
Wednesday’s cortisone shot, which first was reported by The Post’s Joel Sherman earlier Thursday, marked the second in that shoulder this season for Volpe. He also received one in that area during the All-Star break in July, Boone said.
“I did not know about Sunday, where he kind of re-aggravated it on a dive. So, my decision to not have him in the lineup the other day had nothing to do with that,” Boone noted before Thursday’s game against the Tigers. “This information kind of came later. So the timeline of it is, obviously he had the incident in May, where he dove and hurt his shoulder a little bit and felt it. At that time they MRI’d it; he had a partial labrum tear that they felt was an old injury, and really it was more just aggravating it, and kind of probably more the swelling of it.
“So once that got out of there, he was good to go. He’s aggravated it maybe a couple times, Sunday being one of them. And each time … I think it’s just a swelling issue. So he said something the other day about it.”
An MRI exam this week showed “a little bit more of a labrum tear,” according to Boone. He added the medical staff doesn’t believe the injury will land Volpe on the injured list and is “nothing that he can’t continue to play through.”
With 16 games remaining in the regular season beginning Friday in Boston, the 24-year-old Volpe has endured a trying third year in the Bronx, hearing boos regularly from the home crowd after slashing .206/.268/.393 with 19 errors.
The New Jersey native was unavailable Thursday night, with deadline pickup José Caballero starting his second consecutive game at shortstop.
Boone did not commit to Volpe getting the bulk of the playing time once he’s ready to return.
“We’ll see. Obviously, we’re down to the end, and as I’ve said, it’s kind of all hands on deck, and do what we think is best, day in, day out,” Boone said. “Anything that bothers you can affect anything, right?
“But how he’s responded today from the medicine, the cortisone shot, is in line with how we did it the last time, so I expect him to be okay in the next couple days and not to be an issue, so long as he doesn’t aggravate it in different ways.
Volpe’s season-long slump only has intensified lately; he is batting .125 with 29 strikeouts in his past 21 games.
“I feel like he’s been in a good spot physically. I think everybody deals with certain things. So it’s impossible to say this affected something this much or didn’t at all,” Boone said. “How could you possibly know that? But I don’t think it’s been a major factor in his performance, or his ability to swing the bat, or his ability to kind of go to the post every day.”
Asked if the injury is something Volpe might need surgically repaired in the offseason, Boone replied, “not necessarily … but it’s possible.”
“He already feels better today. I don’t expect it to be an issue, but that being said, if he goes out there and aggravates it again, we may have to look at it more,” Boone said. “We’ll MRI it again, regardless, at the end of the season. But right now, it looks like he should be good to go in the next couple of days.”
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