Yankees’ Anthony Volpe has a big decision to make before Opening Day

WASHINGTON — Settling on a uniform number isn’t the only important decision that Yankees shortstop Anthony Volpe needs to make before his debut on Thursday.

After he lines up for Opening Day introductions and takes the field in pinstripes at Yankee Stadium for the first time, he’ll experience his first roll call with the Bleacher Creatures .

Those fans don’t have a four-syllable name to work with. They’ll probably go with VOL-PE, VOL-PE, raising their voices another notch for the top prospect’s first Bronx cheer.

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You could hear the anticipation from Volpe as he spoke about what that moment will be like on Tuesday, following a 3-0 loss to the Nationals in the final exhibition game of the spring.

“I gotta think about what I’m going to do, because some of the guys have asked me what I’m going to do and I haven’t even thought about any of that stuff yet,” Volpe said.

Outfielder Aaron Judge brought it up on his own Tuesday afternoon, mentioning Volpe’s first roll call when asked about his own Opening Day experience as a rookie back in 2017.

“Make sure you’ve also got a roll call for the Bleacher Creatures,” Judge said with a Judgeian smile. “I gotta talk to him about that, but he probably knows.”

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Of course he knows. Volpe is a lifelong Yankees fan, a local kid from Watchung, N.J., that’s been going to games for as long as he can remember. In other words, the 21-year-old has seen it all when it comes to roll call at Yankee Stadium. The Brett Gardner muscle flex. The Nick Swisher salute. The Johnny Damon point. Most recently, the Oswaldo Cabrera grenade toss.

Volpe could follow in the footsteps of his idol as he takes over at Derek Jeter’s old spot on the diamond, a classic glove squeeze and wave. Nothing too flashy.

“I’m definitely just going to do my own thing,” Volpe said.

Unless he wants to make the decision on the fly once he jogs out there for the top of the first on Thursday, Volpe better figure this out soon. He’s been swamped over the last few days after winning the Yankees’ shortstop competition and making the Opening Day roster, bombarded with congratulatory text messages. He’s still having trouble putting this entire experience into words, trying to decompress as he mentally prepares for the first game of his career, living out his dream in the Bronx.

And when it comes to the number that he’ll be wearing, nothing is set in stone yet. On Tuesday, Volpe wore No. 77, as he has all spring. Thursday could be more of the same, but a swap to a lower number — there are only a few still available — can’t be ruled out.

“I’m closing in, but not 100 percent yet,” Volpe said.