With Anthony Volpe in the midst of yet another slump, the shortstop found himself out of the Yankees’ starting lineup for Sunday’s series finale against the Red Sox.
Volpe has been a mainstay in the Yankees’ lineup since winning the team’s starting shortstop job out of spring training as a rookie in 2023. However, Aaron Boone didn’t commit to the 24-year-old returning to action on Monday against the Nationals.
“Yeah, we’ll see,” the manager said. “We’ll see. I haven’t made any definitive [decisions].”
Boone added that Volpe is fully healthy, though Yankees general manager Brian Cashman previously said that the infielder has played through things this season. Volpe banged up his left shoulder early in the year and took a pitch to his left elbow in June.
While Volpe has been a lineup staple since debuting, his everyday presence has been undeserved. Now nearing the end of his third big league season, Volpe entered Sunday’s game with a .222/.284/.380 slash line and an 85 wRC+ over 1,799 career plate appearances.
Of the 88 players with 1,500 plate appearances since 2023, Volpe ranked 88th in average and on-base percentage and 87th in wRC+ and OPS (.665).
This season, Volpe has hit .208/.274/.400 with 18 home runs, 65 RBI, 15 stolen bases and an 86 wRC+ over his first 128 games. He’s already set a career-high for RBI and has a strong chance at surpassing his personal best of 21 homers. But he has remained prone to extreme peaks and valleys, thus continuing a trend that has made him an enigma at the plate.
Volpe’s benching followed an 8-for-66 (.121) stretch that featured just one home run and 19 strikeouts in as many games. Prior to that, he went 14-for-50 with seven homers over 14 games following the All-Star break.
To make matters worse, Volpe’s Gold Glove defense has suffered serious regression this season. His 17 errors trailed only Elly De La Cruz’s 18 on Sunday, while his -7 Outs Above Average ranked 22nd out of 25 qualified shortstops.
While Boone has mostly excused the poor defense and just about any mistakes Volpe makes — he had fielded better prior to the Red Sox series — the skipper acknowledged that the player has been “scuffling” at the plate over the last 7-to-10 days.
It’s been longer than that, though, prompting repeated boos for the childhood Yankees fan.
“I think he handles it quite well,” Boone said when asked if the scrutiny has taken a mental toll on Volpe. “I don’t think he’s overly affected by those things. This is just a young player that works his tail off and is super competitive and is trying to find that next level of consistency in his game offensively.
“He’s mentally very tough and totally wired to handle all of the things that go with being a big leaguer in this city and being a young big leaguer that’s got a lot of expectations on him.”
Whether the Yankees will adjust their expectations for Volpe — or his role — remains to be seen, as Boone and Cashman have repeatedly vouched for the New York native while insisting he has more to offer.
With Volpe on the bench on Sunday, however, the versatile José Caballero found himself starting at shortstop. The speedster’s Yankees career has gotten off to a hot start, as Caballero hit .320/.433/.600 with two homers, four RBI and six stolen bases over his first 14 games with the team following a trade from the Rays.
Boone called Caballero a “spark,” and he noted that the pesky player gives the Yankees a solid shortstop alternative off the bench. The team didn’t have that earlier this season when Oswald Peraza, a slick fielder but one of baseball’s worst hitters, served as the club’s backup shortstop.
“Cabbie gives you that real utility presence that can go play anywhere, and especially go play short,” Boone said. “We’re at the all-hands-on-deck portion of the season. We brought in Caballero, which changes the personnel we have and what we’re able to do.”
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