Anthony Volpe's struggles makes one wonder if this is best course of action for rookie, Yanks
Anthony Volpe of the Yankees flies out to end a game against the Red Sox at Yankee Stadium on Friday. Credit: Jim McIsaac
Anthony Volpe was on the bench for Sunday night’s series finale against the Red Sox, replaced in the starting lineup by Oswaldo Cabrera.
That doesn’t happen very often to the 22-year-old whiz kid shortstop. Before Sunday, Volpe had started 61 of the Yankees’ first 66 games at the position, but this marked the second time in five games that he’d taken a seat (one was the first half of Thursday’s doubleheader).
While that hardly qualifies as some seismic shift in the Yankees’ view regarding the rookie, I asked manager Aaron Boone what went into the decision to sit Volpe, especially after the team didn’t play Wednesday (because of the smoke-out) and has two more days off scheduled for the coming week.
Boone explained that he and bench coach Carlos Mendoza chose to give him a breather after discussing it Saturday night — along with the plan to go with a lefty-heavy lineup against Red Sox starter Brayan Bello.
“Volpe’s been grinding here the last couple of weeks a little bit,” Boone said.
The manager’s plan to spare him from that grind Sunday night went awry when Volpe entered on defense in the ninth inning, then came to the plate with two outs in the 10th — as DJ LeMahieu stood on third base as the tying run. Volpe took two called strikes from Red Sox reliever Chris Martin, fouled off a four-seam fastball, and with the crowd chanting his name, whiffed on a 93-mph cutter to seal the Yankees’ 3-2 loss.
That was Game No. 67 for the Yankees. Volpe has appeared in every one, and he’s in a particularly rough stretch at the moment, hitting .107 (6-for-56) with 19 strikeouts in an 18-game stretch since May 23. The steep nosedive has him batting just .186 overall, and out of 163 qualified players, only two in all of baseball are worse: Phillies slugger Kyle Schwarber (.171) and Tigers infielder Nick Maton (.167). Of course, Schwarber makes being below the Mendoza Line somewhat easier to stomach because he already has swatted 17 home runs.
Then there’s the strikeouts, and Volpe’s K-rate of 30.5% before Sunday was the ninth-worst among qualified players, a flashing red indicator of his nightly frustration. Again, this is part of the learning curve, even for top-rated prospects. But you do have to wonder about the cumulative effect on a youngster’s confidence. Is simply plowing through the hardships, head down, the best course of action for both Volpe and the Yankees?
Volpe frequently is praised for his mental toughness, but few positions in professional sports carry as much pressure as playing shortstop for the Yankees. Rarer still is dealing with that white-hot spotlight on an everyday basis. Sometimes it can be difficult to assess that toll when you’re in the middle of the grind.
“I took every game like it was Game 7 of the World Series because it felt like it for me, honestly,” said Isiah Kiner-Falefa, who struggled but still hit .261 after being handed the position last season. “So I went out there sometimes over-prepared, which is a good thing, but over the course of a long, long season, it could wear you down.”
Volpe wasn’t in the clubhouse when it was open to the media before Sunday’s game, so I couldn’t get his perspective on that. But having a day or two off to push the reset button never seems like a bad thing, and the Yankees could always try to integrate Cabrera into the shortstop rotation more.
Beyond that, it’s hard to ignore the fact that Volpe’s chief competitor in the spring training shortstop derby, Oswald Peraza, is doing damage at Triple-A Scranton. Peraza already was considered the superior defender between the two, and he’s hitting .311 with 10 homers and a .980 OPS for the RailRiders.
“Oswald’s a very young guy, too,” Boone said. “There’s plenty of growth to still be had there. We all feel very highly about who he is as a player and who he’s going to be as a player.”
When Volpe was put on the Opening Day roster, the Yankees made it clear that this was going to be an extended commitment, recognizing that there would be growing pains and a daily adjustment process. But with Aaron Judge potentially out through the All-Star break and the lineup scraping for offense at times — only seven runs in three games against the Red Sox — it’s not as easy lately to absorb a sub-.200 hitter, even in the nine-hole. Boone, however, doesn’t see that as a glaring issue.
“No, because I look at it as he’s still been productive,” he said. “He’s done a lot of winning things . . . While he’s taken his lumps and had his struggles, he’s also had some massive successes, too.”
Kiner-Falefa said he hasn’t spoken to Volpe about the unique demands of the Yankees’ shortstop gig, but he added that he’s happy to share his own perspective. In retrospect, he believes that the Bronx crucible was the best thing that ever happened for his career.
“For me, it goes a long way knowing I was able to overcome that adversity,” Kiner-Falefa said. “I think he’ll be fine.”
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.
