Anthony Volpe, the New York Yankees’ shortstop, was not in the starting lineup for Sunday’s series finale against the Boston Red Sox. Yankees manager Aaron Boone did not confirm if Volpe would return to play in the next game, stating, “We’ll see.”
Volpe has been struggling at the plate recently, recording just one hit in his last 28 at-bats and posting a .169 batting average so far in August. The home crowd at Yankee Stadium expressed their frustration with boos during the weekend series. In Saturday’s 12-1 loss to Boston, Volpe committed his 17th error of the season—second most among Major League players—after overthrowing first base.
“It’s just been a scuffle offensively here over the past week, 10 days,” Boone said.
Despite these struggles, Yankees management has continued to show support for Volpe. Over 128 games this season, he is hitting .208/.274/.400 (85 OPS+), with 26 doubles, four triples, 18 home runs, 65 RBIs and 15 stolen bases.
Sunday marked a shift as Boone indicated he might give more playing time at shortstop to José Caballero. Acquired from the Tampa Bay Rays on July 31, Caballero has hit .320 (8-for-25) with a double, two home runs, four RBIs and six stolen bases in his first 14 games for New York. Overall this season Caballero is batting .235/.338/.338 with four homers and 31 RBIs.
“Having Caballero now, Cabby gives you that real utility presence that can go play anywhere, and especially go play short with the spark he provides,” Boone said.
Volpe won an American League Gold Glove Award as a rookie last year but admitted earlier this season that he had never faced such defensive difficulties before. While Saturday’s error was his first since July 30, there have been other questionable plays during that period. On Friday night against Boston’s Ceddanne Rafaela, Volpe made what Boone described as “obviously not the right play” by throwing to second base instead of making an easier out at first.
Boone said he believes Volpe has managed both fan criticism and performance challenges well: “I don’t think he’s overly affected by those things,” Boone said. “This is 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.”
“I think he’s very mentally 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.”
