Anthony Volpe was not supposed to be the guy dragging the Yankees out of another ugly stretch. Not after the way the last few seasons have unfolded. Not after the constant questions about his bat, his glove, and whether the organization had already invested too much faith in a player who never quite delivered on the hype.
Yet here the Yankees are again, searching for momentum after a brutal 2-7 road trip, and somehow it’s Volpe drawing praise from Aaron Boone after Monday night’s 7-6 win over the Blue Jays.
Volpe finished 2-for-4 with two stolen bases and continued what Boone described as “four days of some really good at-bats.” The Yankees manager specifically pointed to Volpe’s discipline at the plate and his aggressiveness on the bases, two areas the club has desperately needed while the offense sputters through another inconsistent stretch.
“Anthony did a really good job of getting those two bags,” Boone said after the game. “More good at-bats; he’s, for the most part, controlling the strike zone.”
Aaron Boone Doubles Down On Volpe
The numbers during this latest run are undeniably solid. Volpe is slashing .308/.550/.462 with three RBI, two runs scored, and two stolen bases since returning. For a Yankees lineup that looked lifeless for most of the road trip, that production stands out immediately.
Boone’s comments also made it clear the Yankees manager wants to keep building confidence in his young shortstop. That has been a recurring theme throughout Volpe’s career in the Bronx. Even during extended slumps, the organization has continued treating him like a cornerstone player expected to eventually break through.
But Yankees fans have heard versions of this story before.
Every hot streak from Volpe seems to trigger another round of optimism that this is finally the breakthrough. This is finally the stretch where the former top prospect settles in as the franchise shortstop the Yankees envisioned. Then the inconsistency creeps back in. The defensive miscues return. The plate discipline disappears. The production falls off a cliff.
The Defensive Concerns Still Haven’t Gone Away
That history is exactly why the Yankees have to be careful about how they handle this latest surge.
Volpe only returned to the lineup after getting healthy and benefiting from Jose Caballero’s injury. Before that, Caballero had been doing exactly what the Yankees needed defensively. His glove stabilized the infield, even if his bat offered very little upside.
The contrast between the two players creates a difficult decision for Boone moving forward. Volpe may provide more offensive upside, but the Yankees have repeatedly been burned by defensive mistakes at critical moments. Those issues have followed him throughout his young career and remain impossible to ignore.
If the errors start piling up again, the conversation around his role could change very quickly despite this recent hot streak.
Yankees Running Out Of Patience With Inconsistency
If Volpe keeps hitting, the Yankees almost have no choice but to leave him in the lineup regularly. They need offensive production too badly to ignore it. But if the defensive lapses resurface while the bat cools off again, the organization could quickly find itself trapped in the same frustrating cycle that has followed Volpe for years.
The Yankees have spent a long time betting on Anthony Volpe eventually figuring it out. So far, those bets have rarely paid off consistently. Now Boone is once again publicly backing his young shortstop after another strong performance.
Whether this turns into a genuine turning point or just another brief tease may determine how far this Yankees team actually goes.
