Fiery and defensive throughout a scrum that lasted over 90 minutes, Brian Cashman’s frustration reached a high point at the General Managers Meetings in Scottsdale, Arizona on Nov. 7, 2023 when a reporter asked him about the Yankees’ difficulties developing homegrown hitters.
His organization had just failed to make the playoffs for the first time since 2016, and rookie shortstop Anthony Volpe endured an uneven, strikeout-heavy season despite joining the 20-20 club as a 22-year-old.
“So if Volpe winds up crushing it this [coming] year, are you gonna be like, ‘Hey, I guess their player development system does produce hitters?’” Cashman shot back before adding, “I look forward to you telling me, when Volpe crushes it offensively for us this year, that you’ll say, ‘Hey man, I guess your development program did a good job.’”
Fast forward to present day, and Volpe has yet to crush it. With that in mind, Cashman was reminded of his words from just a few years ago on Wednesday.
“Yeah, I remember the viral TikTok,” the general manager said after initially discussing the Yankees’ decision to designate DJ LeMahieu for assignment.
The reminder came with Volpe in his third season as the Yankees’ starting shortstop. Now 24, he entered the day with a .217/.293/.393 slash line, 10 homers, 48 RBI and a 92 wRC+ for the season before going 1-for-4 in a 9-6 Yankees win over the Mariners. His career wRC+, meanwhile, sat at 86.
One-hundred is considered league average.
While Volpe has shown flashes of potential at the plate, his slumps have been far more pronounced. He had just a .577 OPS since the start of June, and he entered Wednesday’s game against the Mariners with just three hits since July began.
Cashman acknowledged Volpe’s streakiness on Wednesday. However, he hasn’t changed the way he feels about the former top prospect, stating, “I’m a fan of Volpe.”
“He’s our shortstop,” Cashman continued, noting that Volpe had a strong postseason last year. “Despite the twists and turns of how this season currently is playing out, there’s a lot of season left to be played. I’m not counting him out, and I know he’s going to be part of the solution, rather than the problem.”
Volpe got hit by a pitch on his elbow on June 6, and he banged up his shoulder earlier in the season, but he’s said that he feels good enough to be playing better than he is. Either way, brief highs and prolonged lows have been a staple throughout his short career.
With Volpe never able to find any sort of middle ground, it’s been tough to evaluate him since he debuted. Aaron Boone, a staunch supporter, has noted that some players don’t take a linear path when it comes to development, but it’s fair to say that Volpe has fallen short of the offensive expectations the organization set for him after passing on a star-studded free agent class of shortstops a few years ago.
“He certainly can come join the party sooner than later, and I believe he will,” Cashman said. “I just have a high belief in him, but the peaks and valleys are part of a six-month season.”
Even with Volpe’s scuffles at the plate, he’s been worth 6.4 Wins Above Replacement for his career, per FanGraphs. A lot of his value has come from his defense, though, as he won a Gold Glove as a rookie and ended up being a finalist last year.
But while Volpe still makes special plays on a regular basis, a few public metrics say he has regressed in the field this season. On top of leading the American League with 11 errors, he had -3 Outs Above Average, a Fielding Run Value of -2 and two Defensive Runs Saved prior to Wednesday.
Boone recently defended Volpe’s glovework, insisting “he’s f—-g elite” over the weekend at Citi Field. The numbers say he’s been toward the back of the pack, though, and that’s on top of a negative grade on the bases and a below average bat.
“I know he’s one of the better defensive shortstops in the game,” Cashman said, “but I also know that there are times that that hasn’t played out this year as much, and there’s probably a lot of different reasons why. Him playing through things to be able to post on a daily basis, that’s another one of the things I admire about the guy. He posts every day.”
The Yankees have frequently cited Volpe’s everyday presence in the lineup when standing by him. The same goes for the gym rat way in which he goes about his work.
However, the work, which has included multiple changes to Volpe’s swing and daily defensive drills, have not yielded consistent results.
Maybe that will change by season’s end, but Volpe’s first 2.5 campaigns suggest otherwise. If that doesn’t pan out, the Yankees wouldn’t be wrong to have some difficult conversations about the future of their shortstop position this winter.
Cashman is banking on such discussions being unnecessary, though.
“I do not consider him a problem,” the GM said. “I understand that there are struggles there, but I believe he will be fine.
“I think we’ll be fine with him.”
