Anthony Volpe is proving himself as Yankees shortstop

The Yankees took a leap of faith in going with Anthony Volpe as their Opening Day shortstop. Nearly six months later, he hasn’t budged from the position, and Tuesday night’s 7-1 loss to the Blue Jays was game No. 149 — more than anyone else wearing pinstripes.

Only the Mets’ Francisco Lindor has matched his ironman status among major-league shortstops. That’s to be commended for a 22-year-old rookie, whose previous high was 132 games, split between two levels a year ago.

What Volpe has accomplished during that impressive workload, however, is the sort of mixed bag you’d expect from a rookie thrust into one of the highest-profile gigs in any sport. Volpe’s 417-foot blast Sunday was his 21st homer this season, tying him for the sixth-most by a rookie in franchise history, as well as the seventh-most by a Yankee prior to his 23rd birthday.

To put that into perspective, the Yankees have been around for a very long time. Some of the other names on those lists: Joe DiMaggio, Mickey Mantle, Lou Gehrig and Aaron Judge.

But here’s the catch: do the Yankees really want him muscling up like that if it comes at the expense of his other talents? For example, Volpe — who also has 24 stolen bases — is among only four shortstops this season to be in that 20-20 club, joining Bobby Witt Jr. (29 HRs, 48 SBs), Lindor (26, 27) and Trea Turner (26, 27).

Pretty good company there. The problem? Volpe’s limitations at the plate aren’t giving him enough opportunities to wreak more havoc on the basepaths. Volpe went 0-for-3 Tuesday, dropping his on-base percentage to .286, which tied him with the Blue Jays’ Daulton Varsho for the second-worst in the majors, better than only Javy Baez (.265) among the 136 qualified players. Throw in batting average, and Volpe’s .210 was the fourth-worst, with Kyle Schwarber’s .197 rock bottom (of course he does have 45 homers). 

This shouldn’t be all that atypical for a rookie barely old enough to legally have a beer. But it’s worth asking if Volpe’s vicious launch-angle swing, a technique groomed in the Yankees’ minor-league system, is detracting from his ability to make more consistent contact rather than going for the fences. His 27.5% strikeout rate is the 17th highest in the majors, though his 50 walks sit somewhere in the middle. Volpe’s uppercut swing is most often compared to Dustin Pedroia, the former MVP second baseman for the Red Sox, but his career high in homers was 21 — done once — to go with a lifetime .299 batting average and .365 OBP.

With Volpe’s speed and jitterbug-style to steal bases, it would make more sense to get him closer to Pedroia’s latter numbers, if that’s possible. Looking back at his minor-league resume, Volpe seemingly has the potential to be that kind of hitter.

“Hopefully it goes hand-in-hand as he gets better and learns,” manager Aaron Boone said before Tuesday night’s game. “I think he should be able to hit for power. The next step hopefully he gets to where he’s over 30% on base, and if he gets really good at it, he’s .350 on base. Those are things I think are reachable for things for him within his career, and the type of player I think he could become, without necessarily sacrificing power.”

When asked if Volpe maybe swings too hard, Boone replied, “He’s 22 years old. There’s more in there, I believe that.”

That’s a fair assessment. Volpe is diligently working his way up the learning curve, and he’s excelled in other areas, probably surpassing what the Yankees anticipated when they first handed him the job. Despite not having a rocket arm, Volpe is in the Gold Glove conversation, as he’s got the highest defensive WAR (2.3) among AL shortstops, according to Baseball-Reference.com. Just five players rank better, and four are tied at 2.5, including the Cubs’ Dansby Swanson, the only other shortstop. On Tuesday, however, Volpe bobbled a grounder in the ninth for his 16th error, the fourth-most in the majors, and that stat is very likely to torpedo any chance at the Gold Glove.

Still, Volpe’s defense has impressed Derek Jeter, and the Hall of Famer also praised Volpe’s gritty perseverance, something the Hall of Famer knows firsthand is a requisite for thriving in the Bronx.

“The thing that stands out the most is the fact that whether he’s had an up-and-down game, or a week or a month, he doesn’t take it to the defensive side,” Jeter said earlier this month. “[That] says a lot about his maturity. He’s going to get better. It all comes with experience. It’s tough to play here in New York as a young player, the expectations are always high, but from everything I can tell, the way he handles himself is what stands out the most.”

All of that, beyond the numbers, is what makes Volpe a solid bet to figure everything else out. If there’s a path to a solution, he’ll grind his way there.

“I think he’s just a key figure for us moving forward for a long time,” Boone said. “Just really professional, really smart, really accountable. A guy you put a lot of trust in and you can count on.”

By David Lennon

dave.lennon@newsday.comDPLennon

David Lennon is an award-winning columnist, a voter for baseball's Hall of Fame and has covered six no-hitters, including two perfect games.