NEW YORK — It’s year three of Anthony Volpe and I can say with almost 100% certainty that he is one of the most inconsistent, or streaky, hitters I have ever seen.
Volpe, 24, broke camp with the Yankees coming into the 2023 season, becoming their starting shortstop, and while Volpe is a solid defensive shortstop — winning Gold Glove in 2023, but has since regressed defensively — the offensive numbers are disappointing and it’s time to have a conversation.
Volpe is in the middle of one of his stretches where he is absolutely lost at the plate, and frankly, looks overmatched at the plate. Volpe is slashing .228/.710/.302 this season,which is below average. Manager Aaron Boone told the media on Friday night “ Tough night, you know, and, now tough few games here. Um, just gotta get on time. It’s, you know, it’s, uh, hitting as hard as it is. It’s as simple as that. Sometimes I feel like he’s a little late in getting into position, therefore, you’re not get, you’re not firing at your best and you’re, and you’re not. Um. You know, swinging at the pitches exactly how you want in a strong position. So just gotta, gotta get himself on time and uh, and, and then he’ll take off.”
Manger Aaron Boone went on to mention that Volpe will likely get a day off on Sunday. One of the credits that Volpe has earned in his major-leauge career is that Volpe is consistently in the lineup every game, but we have seen over time that a day off or two for Volpe do a world of difference in his offensive performance.
Yankees captain Aaron Judge also provided his insight into Volpe’s recent skid and how he can fix it by saying “ Yes. Uh, keep going. You know, you’ve been there before. Um, you know, I think he knows what he needs to work on and, you know, he is a guy that will definitely outwork anybody in this room and I got a lot of confidence in him just like everybody else in this room.”
While there is room for offensive improvement, the performance we are seeing now has been the performance we have gotten from him since he came up where he goes through stretches where he is awesome, and he goes through stretches where he is lost at the plate, and for the first time, it is bleeding into his defense. If it were just the poor hitting, that’s one thing, but it feels like Volpe is struggling at every aspect of the game, baserunning, defense and offense. Just this Wednesday, Volpe made an error on what is likely a double play ball that ultimately costed the Yankees the game, and like a pre-planned story, Volpe struck out to end that game.
Hopfully the day off on Sunday will help Volpe snap out of this funk, but if not, it might be time to start a conversation about Volpe’s future with the Yankees.