The only positive thing I can say about Volpe is that he’s always been healthy. That’s a great trait to have if a player is productive. But he isn’t.
Yankees shortstop Anthony Volpe played his 409th game on Wednesday night’s Yankees’ 9-6 victory over the Seattle Mariners at Yankee Stadium. He went 1-for-4, including being thrown out at second in an attempt to stretch a single into a double.
Over his previous 22 games before Wednesday, the Yankees’ shortstop was batting just .115 (9-for-78) with a .426 OPS and 22 strikeouts. Heading into Wednesday’s game on a 3-for-24 slump, he was batting .217 with a .686 OPS with 10 home runs and 48 RBIs.
After 1501 at-bats overall, it’s fair to get a gauge on Volpe. It’s enough to say that he is a bust. Sorry, but it’s hard to say that it’s going to get better for the young Yankee trying to find his way in Major League Baseball.
For Yankees general manager Brian Cashman to offer the dreaded vote of confidence, that can’t be a good thing, especially when Volpe is in his third year as a starter. A good player doesn’t need a pep talk or a vote of confidence to get going.
When he was highly touted, everyone projected him to hit home runs. It has not happened. His home run numbers are going down each year. After hitting 21 home runs in his rookie year, he finished last year with 12 home runs. It’s not only that, but he is an automatic out when he is out at the plate. Seriously, does he scare any pitcher out there?
His fielding can be atrocious, too. He struggles to make a double play, and he always butchers the ball when he sets up an out. He has made 11 errors this season.
It’s tough to watch.
How long can the Yankees keep being patient with him? At some point, this can’t be a scholarship anymore. It’s time for Volpe to produce or the Yankees should find someone else to play shortstop. At this point, they can’t find anyone worse.
When Volpe entered the scene two years ago, he was a player full of promise. He brought energy. He was always a sure thing on defense. He was a player who seemed determined to stay in the major leagues. All of that is now a distant memory.
Right now, Volpe is guessing at the plate by swinging at every pitch. There’s no discipline at all. He doesn’t even foul off pitches. 90 strikeouts so far this season can’t be a good thing. Worst of all, he is not playing with the energy that he used to when he was called up. It seems like he is beaten down as soon as he grounds out by not hustling to first.
No one questions his work ethic, but that can only take a player so far. It’s about production, and right now, he is offering nothing.
It may just be that Volpe is another overhyped Yankee prospect. Sure, he can be serviceable, but when he was drafted, he was supposed to be an All-Star. Perhaps he needs to bulk up or eat a bit more. I don’t know the answer.
You can only blame the Yankees for not developing players for so long. At some point, Volpe has to get it done.
That’s the problem with prospects. We get so excited about their potential that we forget there’s no guarantee they will succeed in the majors. Unless we see it to believe it, it’s hard to have faith in any of them.
If anything, I see Volpe being a journeyman player for some MLB team. That may not be a bad thing. So many career major leaguers turned out to be good journeyman players. Maybe Volpe can be that, and that would not be a bad thing.
The only positive thing I can say about Volpe is that he’s always been healthy. That’s a great trait to have if a player is productive. But he isn’t.
Then there was this ….
