Aaron Boone And Brian Cashman Get Heated Defending Anthony Volpe

Since being named the starting shortstop for the New York Yankees ahead of the 2023 MLB season, Anthony Volpe has tried to live up to enormous expectations. And, for the most part, Volpe has mostly lived up to the hype.

In his rookie season, Volpe won the AL Gold Glove Award at shortstop. He became the first Yankee rookie to hit at least 20 home runs and steal 20 bases in a season. And, he finished 8th in the AL Rookie of the Year voting.

His ceiling for improvement seemed endless, however, Volpe has failed to take a leap forward in his sophomore season, leaving many to ask if he's still the man for the job. If you ever ask Yankee manager, Aaron Boone, what he thinks, you'll probably get a similar answer to the one he gave on Tuesday on the Talkin' Yanks Podcast:

Aaron Boone wants to defend his guy -- obviously. Volpe is his starting shortstop, and is very good defensively, but his struggles at the plate have carried over from last year. Volpe finished his rookie season with a .209 batting average. And at this point of the 2024 season, during a pennant race, Volpe is hitting just .130 over his last 12 games (.249 on the season).

Yankee General Manager, Brian Cashman, was even asked this week by Joel Sherman of the New York Post, if sending Volpe down to the Minors was an option. Cashman, like Boone, didn't seem too pleased with the inquiry:

“We haven’t talked about it, I feel like, by far, we believe in him and, yes, his development continues at the major league level. There are growing pains, obviously, when you pull the ripcord on somebody’s opportunity early, which he did earn (a starting job in spring 2023), but he’s still finding his way. But also he’s by far our best player at that position (shortstop) and you could argue he’s our best player by far in our infield. So, no, there’s never been a consideration to sending him down. He’s working through everything in a thoughtful way. He’s working his tail off. And again, our opinion of him and his ability to eventually reach his ceilings are still intact.”

Clearly, Yankee management is set on defending Volpe despite his struggles. Only time will tell if they're willing to defend him to the death (of the team).

Related: New York Yankees' Aaron Boone Backs Clay Holmes Despite Struggles This Season