By Donald Laible
In all likelihood, patience is the most effective remedy to getting New York Yankees’ shortstop Anthony Volpe’s career back on a productive path.
The naysayers just may have been proven wrong. Box scores don’t lie. Volpe’s bat is as hot as Florida’s summer grass. The past two games against the Tampa Bay Rays at Yankee Stadium have been encouraging for the third-year infielder. On Tuesday, a Yankees’ 7–5 win in the Bronx, Volpe singles in the bottom of the fourth inning to give his club a 4–3 lead. Then, in the bottom of the eighth inning, Volpe slugs his 15th home run of the season off of Rays’ reliever Kevin Kelly.
The next evening, on July 30 in the Bronx against the same Tampa Bay club, Volpe’s bat continues to sizzle. In a New York 5–4 victory over the Rays, in the bottom of the ninth inning, Volpe slams his 16th homer of the season to bring home another win. His one hit on the night came when most needed.
The Yankees currently sit in second place in the American League East at 59–49, four games back in the division to the Toronto Blue Jays. The Yankees–Rays series wraps up on Thursday afternoon in New York.
Baby steps, bringing his batting average up from .217 heading into Thursday’s game, are encouraging for Volpe. Cutting down on committing errors is a work in progress, too. His 16th error on the season in Wednesday’s game took away some flair from his success in the batter’s box. With this throwing error, Volpe has matched his season total of 2024.
In baseball terms, Volpe is a “kid.” Growing pains should be expected. But, when playing in the game’s biggest market and for a club rich in winning history, fans have been known to have a short leash when it comes to being patient.
Yankees’ general manager Brian Cashman, who put his stamp of approval on drafting Volpe in the first round in 2019 out of high school, has publicly given his shortstop a vote of confidence.
“He’s our shortstop,” Cashman told reporters recently, referring to Volpe.
There’s still a lot of MLB season to go for Volpe to bring more consistency to his game. Fifty-four games remain in the season. Yankees’ manager, Aaron Boone, has said that he believes in his young shortstop—Volpe has played 562 games as a Yankee at shortstop—and has shown no indication of replacing him in his lineup.
Slumps in baseball are common. How long they last usually can be equated to the work that a player puts into reversing course. Although in his third season in the Bronx, Volpe, born in New York City and who grew up a Yankees fan in nearby New Jersey, is under the MLB microscope more than any other player on the club. Coming from “The Big Apple,” locals are expecting a higher grade of performance from one of their own. But a left shoulder injury in May and left elbow pain from being hit by a pitch in June have had an impact on Volpe’s defensive game.
Stealing more bases, creating fewer fielding errors, and striking out less is Volpe’s agenda. With his coach’s assistance, strides are being made. In two-plus seasons, Volpe has whiffed 424 times at-bat. With his struggles offensively and defensively, former three-time MLB Manager of the Year Joe Maddon has chimed in with the opposite view from Boone’s take on staying the course with Volpe. Maddon is calling for the Yankees’ shortstop to be sent down to Triple-A to regain steadiness in his game.
With the Yankees having a history of great shortstops, going back to Hall of Famer Derek Jeter, Bucky Dent, and Hall of Famer Phil Rizzuto, Volpe is being publicly pressed to match up with these New York heroes. As unfair as it is for the fans to expect Volpe to perform at a Hall of Famer’s level in just his third big league season, New York fans have been spoiled for decades with championship seasons.
Volpe, given all the adversity that has come his way, remains one of the most durable Yankees. In his rookie season of 2023, Volpe missed playing in all but three games. Last season, he played in 160 games. So far in 2025, Volpe has been in Boone’s lineup in 106 games and is sitting on the bench for just two of the Yankees’ games.
August appears promising for Volpe and his teammates. Last season’s American League Rookie of the Year, Luis Gil, is expected back on the Yankees’ roster and to be pitching this coming weekend against the Miami Marlins. Gil, a right-handed pitcher, has missed all of this season due to a lat muscle strain. Yankees’ relief pitcher Mark Leither Jr. is also expected back in the club’s bullpen at some point in August. He has been on the 15-day injured list with a left fibular head stress fracture. As all the Yankees get healthy and Volpe makes corrections in his performances, better times for New York fans should be experienced.
