New York Yankees shortstop Anthony Volpe appears poised to reclaim his job as the team’s starter at the critical position.
Volpe was not in manager Aaron Boone’s lineup for the Monday night series opener against the Washington Nationals. However, Boone told media, including The Athletic, that Volpe, who he called “our shortstop,” would begin playing “regularly” starting Tuesday and was held out of the Yankees’ Sunday and Monday lineups as a “reset” of sorts. Instead, utility infielder and trade-deadline acquisition José Caballero manned shortstop on Sunday for the Yankees and will do so again on Monday.
“It’s pretty raw,” Volpe told reporters Sunday after learning he would be held out of the lineup Monday for a second straight game. “As a competitor and someone who takes pride being out there every day, you take it on the chin and look at the positives. … It’s all on me.”
A two-game demotion may not meet the standards of a full-throated benching, but it sounds as though Volpe took it that way.
The 24-year-old Volpe, who’s not far removed from being one of the top prospects in all of baseball, has struggled at the plate this season, especially of late. Overall, his 2025 numbers are mostly in line with his career norms in the majors (85 OPS+ this season versus an 84 OPS+ for his career), but it’s the trajectory that’s alarming. Volpe through the end of April had an OPS of .784. For May, it was .703. His OPS for June was .665, and then it dropped to .604 for July and then .551 so far in August.
As well, Volpe has taken a big step back defensively this season. His 17 errors lead the AL and also ties a career high for Volpe through just 129 games. The more advanced metrics also see Volpe as having declined this season with the glove. Here’s how Statcast’s Outs Above Average have evaluated Volpe in each of his three MLB seasons:
|
Year |
Outs Above Average (minimum 100 attempts) |
MLB rank among shortstops |
|
2023 |
Plus-1 |
28th out of 47 |
|
2024 |
Plus-13 |
Sixth out of 52 |
|
2025 |
Minus-7 |
34th out of 37 |
When you’re providing defensive value at a key up-the-middle position like Volpe did last season, teams will overlook subpar production at the plate. This season, though, he’s arguably been worse in the field than he has been at the plate. Throw in the Yankees’ recent struggles — they haven’t had a winning month since May — and tenuous hold on playoff position, and it’s not surprising that Volpe lost his hold on the job, however briefly. For now, though, he’s back, struggles and all.