But even in a season when little has gone right for Volpe, Yankees manager Aaron Boone told The Athletic before Thursday\u2019s game that the organization has not considered demoting him to Triple A to work through his offensive and defensive struggles.<\/p>\n
\u201cFirst of all, he\u2019s a more productive offensive player than he gets credit for,\u201d Boone said. \u201cWe just hammer the struggles, because, on some level, there were people that anointed him and expected so much. Even though he hasn\u2019t come close to realizing what we expect and what he expects offensively \u2014 and acknowledging a few weeks this year where he struggled even defensively \u2014 he\u2019s still a frontline defensive player at a premium position that is offensively somewhat productive.<\/p>\n
\u201cNow, obviously, he\u2019s had a 10-day stretch here where he\u2019s gone from over a .700 OPS four months into the year to below. We want to send that guy down? What planet does that guy get sent down that\u2019s a shortstop? I don\u2019t know that planet.\u201d<\/p>\n
E6 pic.twitter.com\/fSod8Wd58k<\/a><\/p>\n \u2014 Talkin\u2019 Yanks (@TalkinYanks) August 29, 2025<\/a><\/p>\n At his high point on June 11, Volpe had a .776 OPS, good for a 114 wRC+, meaning he was 14 percent better than the average MLB hitter. But since June 12, only Pittsburgh Pirates outfielder Oneil Cruz has been a worse hitter.<\/p>\n Meanwhile, Volpe\u2019s defense has taken a considerable step back from his first two seasons in the big leagues. He won the Gold Glove Award in his 2023 rookie year, and he was a finalist last season. In 2024, Volpe was sixth among all shortstops with 13 outs above average<\/a>. This season, he is tied for 30th among 34 shortstops with minus-7.<\/p>\n There aren\u2019t any favorable numbers the Yankees can point to with Volpe\u2019s 2025 season. He has the lowest BABIP (batting average on balls in play) in the majors, which could point to some bad luck, but his lack of encouraging contact quality metrics would suggest he hasn\u2019t been overly unlucky on the whole.<\/p>\n \u201cI think we\u2019ll get him through this,\u201d Boone said. \u201cI don\u2019t think he should be sent down. I think mentally and emotionally, he\u2019s so much better equipped to handle this than people might imagine. I don\u2019t think he\u2019s getting banged down by this. I\u2019ve never seen that out of him. I\u2019ve never felt that way where this guy needs a break, which could pop up with a player that maybe has been a good player who now needs a timeout. I don\u2019t feel that way.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s obviously frustrating because you want to get results and help the team,\u201d Volpe said after the game. \u201cWhen you\u2019re not doing that, it\u2019s frustrating. At the same time, I felt it was close and in a good spot. I felt like I was taking good swings and putting together pretty good at-bats. It\u2019s just a balancing act.\u201d<\/p>\n Anthony Volpe (11) and his Yankees teammates shake hands after winning their fifth game in a row. (Michael Reaves \/ Getty Images)<\/p>\n The Yankees benched Volpe for two games earlier this week to give him a \u201creset,\u201d but it wasn\u2019t meant as a punishment for how he was playing. Hitting coach James Rowson said Volpe wasn\u2019t changing any mechanics<\/a>; the days off were mainly for the 24-year-old to regather himself.<\/p>\n If the Yankees did make a change at shortstop, Boone now has a trusted option in Jos\u00e9 Caballero. Before the trade deadline, the Yankees had Oswald Peraza, but they never fully believed in him. Boone views Caballero as a utility option even though the former Tampa Bay Ray has better stats across the board than Volpe this season. But it doesn\u2019t mean Boone is unwilling to give playing time to Caballero at shortstop.<\/p>\n \u201cI have another good player sitting there,\u201d Boone said. \u201cI have a guy I could put in there who\u2019s a really good player that\u2019s different than I\u2019ve had. I don\u2019t think it\u2019s a bad thing every now and then when you are scuffling to sit over here and watch it from a different angle. That\u2019s what it was. It wasn\u2019t this big mental blow that I felt like (Volpe) needed, which I have given those to guys at different times.\u201d<\/p>\n The Yankees believe Caballero\u2019s ultimate value is his ability to play multiple positions. With Aaron Judge unable to play right field as he recovers from a flexor strain, Caballero has entered games in right field as a defensive replacement when Giancarlo Stanton starts in the outfield. Unless the team\u2019s viewpoint on Caballero changes, expect Volpe to be the Yankees\u2019 starting shortstop for the remainder of the season.<\/p>\n (Top photo: Michael Reaves \/ Getty Images)<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/GettyImages-2232615479-scaled.jpg\")
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