The fans are equally skeptical. Volpe will become a target if he struggles in his first 50 at-bats.I posed the question to Willie Randolph. He’s known Volpe since he was a teenager at Delbarton and worked with him as a guest instructor in spring training.

Randolph is one of the franchise’s experts in succeeding in front of tough Bronx crowds.Randolph is also joining the YES Network as a post-game analyst. He’s been around since the 1970s and can, in the same conversation, trot out a Reggie Jackson anecdote, diagnose Aaron Judge’s swing and tell us what to look for in Volpe’s career crossroads.“I’ll be really interested to see if he’s broken everything down after getting hurt and decided, ‘I’ve got to have a different approach at the plate,’” Randolph said in a telephone interview this week.“Volpe is smart, he works hard and he’s got a beautiful swing.

He really does. But he’s got that little loop, which I don’t like. He’s got to keep that swing flat and stay right-center.“I know it’s not easy to change.

Baseball players are creatures of habit. The sport is about repetition, repetition, repetition. Sometimes the only way to change is completely break everything down to the basics and start over.“If Anthony does that, and cuts down on the strikeouts, makes more contact, he’ll hit 20 (home runs) easy.”The Yankees would be thrilled with even 12-15 home runs from Volpe in exchange for another 50 points over last year’s .212 average.

When Randolph says Volpe “needs to get going,” he’s repeating a franchise-wide consensus.The Yankees are expecting more from Volpe this time around. Jose Caballero has shown flashes of athleticism and charisma but failed to make a slam-dunk case for himself as the Plan B at shortstop. That means the door is wide open for Volpe, who could join the team next week in Texas, to reclaim the position.

The Yankees have been patient and are still saying all the right things in support of Volpe. But it has to be a two-way relationship. Aaron Boone and the front office need something in return from Volpe to justify their faith.Of course, that won’t be the only topic of conversation as the Yankees roll through this long road trip.

Either way, Randolph’s debut in the studio on Friday will be worth watching. The YES post-game roster lineup continues to expand with former players, like Dellin Betances, Adam Ottavino and Todd Frazier.But none have Randolph’s history or his resume: 18-year career, former captain, six rings (two with the 1977-78 Yankees, four others as a coach in 1996, 1998-2000), five-time All-Star, Mets manager from 2005-2008.“There’s so much knowledge there that the audience will benefit from,” said Jared Boshnack, YES’executive producer and vice president of production.“With Willie and his history of leadership, I’m really excited about this idea.”Randolph will begin slowly – one series a month in the studio – with room for growth.

By mid-summer, YES execs expect Randolph will have navigated the fine line between his affinity for the Yankees and having to be a truth teller during losing streaks.“I’m going to be straight,” Randolph said. “I’m not going to kill them, but if they stink, I’m going to say, ‘they stink.’ If I go on the air and start bluffing everyone, the fans are going to say, ‘what is that?” “I’m going to be fair, but I’m not going to be a homer. That’s just not me.”Randolph is catching the Yankees at the right time, in the middle of a six-game winning streak that included a dramatic sweep of the Red Sox at Fenway this week.“I will be shocked if the Yankees don’t win the division,” he said.

“At this point, they’re really balanced. They have a good group of guys who play for each other. I love that.“I’m in the clubhouse with them (in spring training), so I know the chemistry.

Sometimes you can just tell the opposite from the outside, just by watching the body language, when a team has bad chemistry. That’s definitely not the Yankees.”About Those Alternate JerseysThe debate is raging as to whether the time is right for the Yankees to sport a more modern look on the road. The lines are mostly split between younger fans, who think the Yankees should get out of the last-millennium time warp, and the purists who believe change is heresy.I took the issue to an opponent, who asked that I not reveal whether he’s a manager (former or present), coach or player.

Granted anonymity, he excoriated the proposed new threads.“I’m not surprised they’re talking about different jerseys now,” he said. “They’re already starting to look like renegades.”How so?“They’re wea