Report: Yankees’ Volpe Confirmed to Have Partially Torn Labrum

Anthony Volpe Has Been Playing Through a Labrum Injury

Season-Long Miscues

In hindsight, it’s obvious that Volpe has not been playing at his best. Though his offensive stats have been relatively similar to those from his first two seasons, his defensive stats have gotten drastically worse. Despite accumulating 14 outs above average (OAA) over his rookie and sophomore seasons, Volpe has been worth -9 OAA in 2025, also ranking second in all of MLB in errors (19) behind Elly De La Cruz (23).

Unfortunately, this isn’t the first time in recent memory that the Yankees have forced one of their players to play through an injury, when in reality they probably should’ve let them recover properly. In May of 2023, the newly retired Anthony Rizzo collided with Fernando Tatis Jr. at first base, leaving him out with a concussion for months. Despite passing MLB’s concussion protocol, Rizzo never looked the same after that injury and was subsequently out of baseball following last season.

Will He Keep Playing?

Though Volpe has not been in the lineup since Tuesday against the Detroit Tigers, New York has made it clear that they want Volpe to continue playing. The Yankees have been reluctant to bench Volpe even as he has gone through tremendous struggles at the plate and in the field; this trend has only continued after manager Aaron Boone stated that the young shortstop will continue to play through the injury.

Now, is this a good idea, especially heading into the final stretch of the season when the Yankees will be fighting to hold onto a spot in the postseason? Probably not. But, again, this wouldn’t be the first time that the Yankees have elected to aggravate a (young) player’s nagging injury instead of letting them get back to 100%.