The Yankees’ willingness to go to great lengths to defend Anthony Volpe’s game is the only constant about his third major league season.
Volpe, who is prone to both short-term highs and long-term lows, is currently 7-for-his-last-56 (.125) after going 0-for-3 with a strikeout in Friday’s 1-0 loss to Boston. Prior to Friday’s game, his lifetime averages were.211,.667, and 86. This season, he is hitting.209 with a.679 OPS and an 87 wRC+. Volpe’s defense and baserunning have significantly deteriorated this season, and he has never had an on-base percentage higher than.300.
As of Friday, the former Gold Glover was ranked 22nd out of 25 eligible shortstops with -7 Outs Above Average. His 16 mistakes placed him 24th.
However, earlier this season, Aaron Boone referred to Volpe as a f king top defender.Instead of contributing to the problem, Brian Cashman emphasized that he will be a part of the solution.
Even though there isn’t much proof of that yet, the Yankees continue to talk about Volpe as though he were a star player. Or from acting as though he is impervious to punishment despite a season filled with errors.
Another blunder came in Friday s game, as did another dubious defense from Boone, Volpe s staunchest supporter.
The shortstop collected a groundball from Ceddanne Rafaela at shortstop with nobody out in the ninth inning after Volpe had already been jeered for striking out in the eighth inning. On the play, Jarren Duran strayed a little off second base, so Volpe threw behind the runner at 48.3 mph in an attempt to get a tag out at second rather than the standard out at first. Rafaela easily beat Jazz Chisholm Jr.’s throw to first, but Duran beat the short throw back to second.
Zero outs were recorded on the play.
Volpe finally threw Duran out at home plate on a fast play, throwing to first, which was the logical option, but the blunder didn’t end badly for the Yankees. Boone admitted it, but he took far longer to defend Volpe’s choice, which made closer David Bednar toss more pitches.
Although it’s clearly not the best move, it’s also a bit of a heady play. According to Boone, he nearly caught a player in scoring position there. I mean, are we going to really dive into that one a lot? I mean, I understand. It’s kind of a heads-up [play], almost got a man napping, but he wasn’t out.
To make the play, Volpe would have needed to throw the ball harder than he did, but doing so would have put it in danger of going past Chisholm.
Boone stated, “You can’t throw a rocket over there,” adding that Duran had an impact on Chisholm’s throw to first.
The smart move in a close, much-needed divisional game would have been for Volpe to get the easy out at first base, even if there had been solid throws everywhere. It shouldn’t take so many warnings to say so.
After all, the left fielder had no chance of collecting Duran on the next play, so he threw to third, giving Rafaela an easy move to second. Jasson Dom nguez clearly admitted that he made a mistake. In the meanwhile, Boone chastised Austin Wells for a moderately hit line ball to shortstop in the sixth inning that resulted in a double off first base.
Boone repeated phrases he has used a lot during the past two months of sloppy Yankees baseball: “Can’t get doubled off there.” It s one thing, a bullet to like the second basemen or something where you flinch and they grab you, but across the diamond like that? You need to know to sit down, even if it makes you cringe. We need to get that one back.
However, there is always a but or an explanation that defies logic when it comes to Volpe.
The Yankees now have a good substitute in Jos Caballero, who can handle short and has hit well since joining from the Rays, which is different from earlier in the season. The Yankees will not consider replacing Volpe as the starting quarterback, but it wouldn’t be a bad idea for the organization to give the high-energy utility player more starts at short and give Volpe more days off.
Additionally, Boone might have substituted Giancarlo Stanton for the struggling Volpe in Friday’s eighth inning. Instead, after Volpe struck out on three pitches while pursuing a low changeup from Garrett Whitlock, Stanton hit for Ryan McMahon.
Boone did think about substituting Stanton for Volpe. But according to the manager, he took the approach he did since Whitlock is somewhat of a reverse splits pitcher and Volpe’s speed could cause chaos if he got to base.
Whitlock, who is right-handed, had very even splits both this season and throughout his career, while Volpe had the second-lowest on-base percentage of any eligible hitter going into Friday, at.277. It was unlikely that he would use his speed.
Boone mentioned Volpe’s post-All-Star break power surge, saying, “He hasn’t been swinging great the last week after really getting it going there for a few weeks.” He has only missed a few pitches that he has hit well over the past two days.
He needs to start playing offensively again. However, I believe he is in the proper state of mind.
Boone has frequently commended Volpe’s attitude and thinking, saying he believes the young Yankees supporter is suited to deal with the demands of New York. The 24-year-old’s work ethic, which is unquestionably as great as any player in the team’s clubhouse, is another thing the Yankees want to highlight.
However, Volpe’s efforts aren’t producing any results. It isn’t producing consistency, for sure.
But the justifications have grown commonplace.
