After Tough First Half Yankees Shortstop Anthony Volpe Still Sees Path Forward

Anthony Volpe didn’t offer a clear answer when asked what the Yankees need to do better. It came out jumbled, vague, hopeful. That’s also a pretty good way to describe his season.

“I think there’s a lot of things,” Volpe told reporters after Sunday’s game.  “I think everyone’s confident in each other, and there’s room to improve in a lot of areas. Everything’s in front of us. So we do those things, we keep working, keep doing the stuff we did over the last couple weeks and the first half here, and do the same things, we'll be good."

The second-year shortstop has looked lost for weeks. He’s hitting .143 over his last 22 games. His OPS is down to .695. His defense, which had been a strength, has slipped too. He’s committed 11 errors, third most among American League shortstops.

Volpe came into this season looking like a player ready to take the next step. He hasn’t. The bat has gone cold. The timing is off. He’s rolling over pitches he used to drive. His footwork in the field has gotten sloppy. The confidence that carried him through a tough rookie season looks like it’s starting to crack.

Aaron Boone pulled him for a pinch-hitter in the ninth inning of a close game earlier this month. Quiet move, loud message. And while the Yankees haven’t said anything publicly, the trust clearly isn’t where it was.

Volpe keeps saying the right things. But at some point, the results have to follow. Right now, they’re not.

His job is safe this year. The Yankees don’t have a better option, and they’re not pulling the plug on a homegrown shortstop this early. But George Lombard Jr., who played in the Futures Game on Saturday, is starting to knock on the door. He’s probably a year or two away, but he’s coming.

Volpe doesn’t need to be perfect. He just needs to stop being a liability. If he can’t turn it around soon, the Yankees are going to have a much harder decision to make.