Yankees' Anthony Volpe benched for just one more night
Yankees shortstop Anthony Volpe returns to the dugout after grounding out against the Red Sox during the ninth inning at Yankee Stadium on Saturday. Credit: Kathleen Malone-Van Dyke
Anthony Volpe found himself on the bench a second straight game Monday night, but his manager said the struggling shortstop’s time there won’t last beyond that.
And in saying Volpe would be back in the starting lineup Tuesday night against the Nationals, Aaron Boone said he still sees the 24-year-old as an everyday player.
“I view Anthony as our shortstop,” Boone said Monday afternoon.
Volpe, in a 1-for-28 slide and batting all of .169 in August (12-for-71), is hitting .208 on the season with a .274 on-base percentage. He does have 18 homers and is tied with Aaron Judge for second-most doubles (26) on the club, but coupled with Volpe’s struggles in the field this season (he has a team-high 17 errors), it has not overall been a good season for the third-year shortstop.
“It’s all on me,” Volpe told reporters of his benching after Sunday night’s 7-2 victory over the Red Sox that kept the Yankees from a four-game sweep. “There’s so much good work being put in. That’s what makes it frustrating. You feel like you can contribute and help the team, but it’s not discouraging because you know the work you’re doing. I’ve got to do what I’ve got to do to contribute. It’s obviously frustrating.”
Utility man Jose Caballero started at short again on Monday. Caballero, who also can play third, second and all three outfield spots, has been a spark since joining the Yankees just before the trade deadline, hitting .286 (8-for-28) with a .382 on-base percentage in 15 games. He’s stolen six of his MLB-leading 40 bases in that stretch.
“I view Cabby [Caballero] getting a lot of run in a lot of different spots,” Boone said.
As for Volpe being on the bench, Boone again indicated he viewed that as a short-term move, one he hopes will allow his young shortstop to get a “reset” on his season.
“Just hopefully a little blow in the grind of the season, something that serves him well down the stretch,” Boone said.
Volpe performing well down the stretch would go a long way toward the Yankees’ organization being able to avoid an offseason narrative it wants no part of, which goes something like this: if top prospect George Lombard Jr., currently with Double-A Somerset, finishes the season strong and ends the year with Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre, the 20-year-old at that point is one step away from the big leagues and that would engender inevitable questions about there being a starting shortstop battle next spring training.
Lombard, of course, would have to do his part. Since his promotion to Double-A in early May, he hasn’t done particularly well at the plate, hitting .211 with six homers and a .677 OPS in 90 games with Somerset. Lombard, playing sporadically at second and third but still getting the vast majority of his games at short, has been a bit better of late, hitting .270 with an .804 OPS in his last 11 games.
Regardless, Lombard, who dazzled in his first big-league camp this past spring training, continues to draw rave reviews from rival scouts and talent evaluators.
“The bat will come,” said one NL scout who recently watched Lombard with Double-A Somerset. “I just like watching him play. Does everything right. His preparation, instincts on the field, how he is with his teammates . . . he’s what they look like.”
“They,” the scout said, as in a big-leaguer.
“I said it when he was with Hudson Valley [High-A] in April: he’ll be in there [the majors] at some point next year,” the scout added. “I still believe that.”
Boone, meanwhile, has been steadfast in public this season in defending Volpe, whom the eighth-year manager still believes can be a “good” hitter at this level.
“Production comes in a lot of different ways,” Boone said. “I think sometimes people want him, because he’s a shortstop with speed, like he’s got to hit for a certain average and do certain things. No, productive offensive players come in many shapes and forms. He’s got a lot of ability, he’s shown a lot of flashes of that. I think the next thing for Anthony, though, is the consistency part and limiting some of the peaks and valleys . . . the consistency part, that’s the next wave for him offensively so he can ascend as a player.”
Erik Boland started in Newsday's sports department in 2002. He covered high school and college sports, then shifted to the Jets beat. He has covered the Yankees since 2009.
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