Yankees demote Anthony Volpe from leadoff spot as brutal stretch continues

For the first time in nearly three months, there was a shakeup at the top of the Yankees’ batting order.

One youngster replaced another, with Ben Rice and not Anthony Volpe batting leadoff for Thursday’s series finale against the Reds in The Bronx.

“I just wanted to shake it up a little bit,” manager Aaron Boone said after shifting Volpe to a different spot in the order for the first time since April 9.

Volpe opened the season as a middle- or bottom-of-the-order bat before he rode a hot streak to the top of the lineup.

But the second-year shortstop stalled in front of Juan Soto and Aaron Judge and slashed just .242/.293/.358 as the No. 1 hitter, consistently struggling to reach base ahead of maybe the two best hitters in baseball.

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Against Reds righty Frankie Montas, Volpe was bumped to sixth in the order.

Three times, Boone mentioned the less-pressurized spot in the lineup would give Volpe a “blow” or a “break.”

After Wednesday’s loss, Boone talked with Volpe about his decision, and he said the 23-year-old took the news in stride.

“I feel like the last couple of weeks he’s been struggling,” Boone said of Volpe, who entered play 9-for-54 (.167) with 14 strikeouts and two walks in his past 12 games. “I feel like he’s done a lot of really good in that spot [too]. And I don’t rule out him going back there or against lefties being up there.

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“Just feel like a little blow from that spot might serve him well.”

Rice, a 25-year-old rookie, has impressed in his first couple weeks in the majors and entered play with a .378 on-base percentage.

The lefty swinger has held his own at first base since replacing Anthony Rizzo and has been particularly impressive at the plate against righty pitchers.

After just two weeks of major league play, Rice — whose season began with Double-A Somerset — was tasked with getting on base ahead of Soto and Judge.

Rice said his mindset does not change, but maybe his level of excitement will be altered.

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“It’s cool. It’s definitely pretty cool,” Rice said with a laugh about hitting in front of Soto and Judge. “But like I said: It’s the same game.”

Boone opted for the tweak, which he said might “optimize” his lineup, amid a deep slump for most of the offense outside of Judge and Soto.

The Yankees entered play having dropped 12 of 16 games since June 15, a stretch in which their team OPS was .690, the 21st best in baseball — a startling number considering Judge’s (1.319) and Soto’s (.847) OPS in that span. Boone wanted to try something new.

“I feel like the consistency of the quality of at-bat that we’ve seen from [Rice], hopefully lends itself to more of that,” Boone said of the Dartmouth product.

The manager did not commit to Rice remaining at the top and mentioned Volpe might rise again, particularly against southpaws.

The Yankees are set to face three righty starters in the series with the Red Sox that begins Friday.

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