This time, Anthony Volpe won’t exclusively play shortstop in the minors.

Volpe, who has only played shortstop in the majors, will work at both shortstop and second base after getting sent down with top prospect George Lombard Jr. getting called up, manager Aaron Boone said during his appearance on the “Talkin’ Yanks” podcast Tuesday.

It marked a telling admission by Boone and the Yankees in the aftermath of Volpe getting demoted to the minors, with the 25-year-old — who was born in Manhattan, grew up in New Jersey and received endless support from the Yankees as he struggled the last three seasons — as far away from his childhood dream to play shortstop for the Yankees as he’s ever been.

Boone said during his podcast appearance that Lombard will hit eighth and play shortstop as he makes his debut Tuesday night, when the Yankees continue their series in The Bronx against the Cardinals.

As for Volpe, he’ll get a chance to follow through on his fiery defense last month — when a since-retracted report surfaced stating that Volpe refused to play anything but shortstop while in Triple-A — that he’d do “literally anything” to help the Yankees win.

Through 56 games with the Yankees this season, he’s hit .240 with a .646 OPS and just one home run, splitting time with José Caballero as Lombard Jr. loomed.

He has also committed four errors after tying for the American League lead with 19 last season.

“It’s not my job to be concerned with that,” Volpe said July 24 of the Yankees’ shortstop uncertainty with Lombard also an option. “I’m here to help the team win. I’m ready to go every day to help the team.”

With Boone saying that Lombard will get a lot of run with the Yankees, it might be difficult for Volpe to claw his way back to the majors this season, barring an injury.

When Volpe won the job three years ago and then won a Gold Glove at the end of the season, he was pegged as their shortstop of the future. He delivered on the World Series stage in 2024, too.

Even as he struggled through the errors in 2025 and was still recovering from his shoulder surgery going into the 2026 season, Boone and general manager Brian Cashman continued to defend him.

But Volpe’s outlook started to shift when Caballero played well to start the season with Volpe hurt, complicating his path back to a starting job the Yankees always insisted he’d have.

It shifted again when Lombard Jr. returned from multiple sprained fingers last month and hit .377 with a 1.081 OPS in 14 games with the RailRiders.

Still, the trade deadline arrived without an external solution factoring into the Yankees’ shortstop equation, and Cashman told reporters Monday evening that they were operating “business as usual.”

And then the nadir, at least for Volpe, arrived just hours later.