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New York Post
Anthony Volpe plans to ‘just keep working’ as Yankees struggles continue
By Peter Botte,
1 day ago
Brian Cashman and Aaron Boone came to the defense of Anthony Volpe on Tuesday, but the slumping second-year shortstop insists he isn’t concerned about receiving any votes of confidence from his Yankee bosses.
All he wants to do is hit his way out of it.
Volpe entered the series opener against the Guardians batting .118 (6-for-51) with no homers and a sickly .339 OPS over his previous 13 games, but he rapped two hits — including a game-tying double in the fourth inning — in the Yankees’ 9-5, 12-inning loss at the Stadium .
Defensively, Volpe also started a key 6-6-3 double play to end the top of the 10th inning.
Anthony Volpe steals third base during the fourth inning of the Yankees’ 9-5, 12-innng loss to the Guardians on Aug. 20, 2024. Robert Sabo / New York Post
“Just keep working. All that stuff obviously is out of my control,” Volpe said before the game. “I’m just going to keep doing what I can to come out of it, and just keep working.”
Earlier in the day, Cashman told Post baseball columnist Joel Sherman that he and the front office “haven’t talked about” giving the 23-year-old Volpe a brief reset in the minor leagues to get going offensively.
Boone also became extremely animated when he was pressed about replacing Volpe in the lineup, even for a few days, during his weekly spot on the Talkin’ Yanks podcast.
“He’s great defensively at the most important spot. Come on, man,” Boone barked during the appearance . “This guy’s a player. You’re like, ‘Yeah, the defense is great, we acknowledge that.’ But that’s enormous. He’s the best shortstop in the league, and he’s hitting like average or below league average. … Add it all up, he’s a winning player.
“Like, stop it. What if he goes out and has two good offensive weeks, and he’s a .720 OPS, and is the best defender in the league? Eh, you got yourself a pretty damn good player right there. He’s gonna get there.”
Yankees shortstop Anthony Volpe (R) reacts after he strikes out swinging. JASON SZENES FOR THE NEW YORK POST
Volpe won a Gold Glove award at shortstop last season as a rookie.
His batting average (.247) and OPS (.680) this season actually are better than they were when he was a rookie — .207 and .666, respectively — but his home runs are down from 22 last year to 11.
After appearing in 159 games last season, Tuesday’s start marked Volpe’s 125th game played among the Yanks’ first 126.
Yankees shortstop Anthony Volpe walks back to the dugout after hitting into a double play during a recent game. Charles Wenzelberg / New York Post
“There’s definitely a case in there where I could have given him a day here and there, absolutely. But to just have him not in the lineup? Next question, seriously,” an agitated Boone said during the podcast. “When you run the team, you can make that call.”
Boone was much calmer when asked about Volpe’s slump during his pre-game press conference.
Yankees shortstop Anthony Volpe (R) reacts after he strikes out swinging during a game against the Rays JASON SZENES FOR THE NEW YORK POST
“Hard game, young man, every player is different,” Boone said. “I mean, we’ve had these conversations over and over. He made a pretty big swing change in the offseason, again, that I will stand by, that I think is going to serve him well in his career.
“Again, not everything is linear. He’s had some ups and downs. Add it all up, and we got a really good player and a really impactful player, night in and night out, and just a really impactful person in our room. And, he’ll get it going here offensively, too.”
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