The New York Yankees could be playing without Anthony Volpe as their starting shortstop for the foreseeable future.
Volpe has been struggling in the field all season, but as of late, his bat has gone cold. With him in the midst of a slump, Volpe was benched for the Yankees’ series finale against the Boston Red Sox.
Jose Caballero will start at shortstop instead of Volpe, and it may not be a one-game thing, either. When asked if Volpe is just getting a day off and will return to the lineup, Yankees manager Aaron Boone said ‘We’ll see.’
“We’ll see, we’ll see, I haven’t made any definitive (decisions). Get through today, do all we can to win tonight and we’ll see tomorrow,” Boone said.
It was a bold comment from Boone, who no longer feels committed to Volpe as the Yankees’ starting shortstop.
Volpe currently leads the American League in errors with 17 and is second in the majors behind Elly De La Cruz, who has 18.
However, amidst his struggles in the field, Volpe is also struggling at the plate. He’s hitting .042 with 10 strikeouts over his last 7 games, .113 with 15 strikeouts over his last 15 games, and .181 with 28 strikeouts in his last 30 games.
Yankees Added Volpe Replacement at Trade Deadline
Although the Yankees made some big, splashy moves at the deadline in the bullpen, one trade that went under the radar was acquiring Caballero.
Caballero is a pest on the basepaths and is known for his good defense at short. He could very well be the Yankees’ shortstop going forward, as Boone says, giving Volpe a breather for Caballero is something he wants to do.
“Especially with Caballero, I gave him one the other day,” Boone said. “Those can be in play here, but I wasn’t going to do it with a lefty today.”
However, if Caballero plays sound defensively and can hit, perhaps this is a permanent move going forward with Volpe riding the bench.
Caballero is hitting .235 with 4 home runs and 31 RBIs. In his last 18 at-bats, he’s hitting .389 with 2 home runs and 4 RBIs, while also walking 5 times.
Volpe has struggled at the plate, as he’s in a 1-for-28 drought and is batting .169 in the month of August, so some time off could help him.
Yankees Hitting Coach Defends Volpe
Although Volpe has been terrible at the plate as of late, Yankees’ hitting coach James Rowson has defended him.
Rowson believes Volpe is putting together good at-bats and believes he isn’t as bad at the plate as many think.
“It shows up sometimes as he doesn’t have hits in a certain number of at-bats. But it’s not purely about results,’’ Rowson said. “His at-bats over the last month or so have been really good. The results have to be there, too, and there haven’t been a lot of hits, but he’s not doing much different than when he was locked in earlier in the season.”
However, Yankees fans haven’t been happy with Volpe as he has been getting booed at the plate. But, Rowson is confident Volpe will start having more success at the plate.
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