Time to Ease Up on Yankees' Anthony Volpe

New York Yankees shortstop Anthony Volpe reached another low last night, now leading the American League in errors with 12. In the MLB, he is tied for second-most with three other players, while San Francisco Giants shortstop Willy Adames has the most, with 13.

The Yankees lost their first game in a new series with the Toronto Blue Jays, who have now won 11 consecutive home games and are still atop the American League East. They are four games ahead of the Yankees, in second.

Volpe has become something of a scapegoat among Yankee fans, and is a popular idea for replacement at the trade deadline. An error from Volpe helped propel the Blue Jays to their ultimate victory, which didn't help his case. The negative attention he has been getting may be further affecting his performance and creating a self-fulfilling prophecy.

Volpe seems to be well-loved by the team's management, and Yankees manager Aaron Boone has defended him throughout his recent struggles. That doesn't help Volpe with a fan base who are already tepid on Boone, at best.

When asked what he thinks is preventing Volpe from reaching the level of consistency that he has in the past, Boone described a negligible difference between great performance and poor performance.

"We're talking about a few extra errors," Boone said. "I get it, that's the separator of when he wins a Gold Glove and when [he doesn't]. He's still a top shortstop, he hasn't made a few plays that have generated a lot of noise."

Volpe was a first-round draft pick in 2019 and made his MLB Debut with the Yankees in 2023, when he won the Gold Glove Boone is referring to.

"[...] he hasn't made three or four plays. That crushes you a little bit. He's still making a lot of range-y plays [...] he just hasn't been as consistent as he [was] in his first two years. That's three or four plays we're talkin' about. A couple games [...] where he hasn't completed some plays has changed his whole defensive season."

The noise has been overwhelming, and Boone's loyalty to Volpe has only bolstered criticism of Boone's abilities as a manager.

For his part, Volpe expressed optimism in a postgame interview, which also enraged fans.

"It’s still the middle of July," Volpe said, per Bryan Hoch of CBS Sports. "We’ve got so many games ahead of us. We don’t stack ourselves up against one team or another. I feel like we stack ourselves up against ourselves. So when we play our best, I think everything will take care of itself, regardless of how many games are left."

With any luck, Volpe can block out the noise and get it together. In the meantime, it's likely fans will keep on yelling about him.

Make sure to bookmark Yankees On SI to get all your daily New York Yankees news, interviews, breakdowns and more!

• Yankees One-Stop Shopping Pirates?
• MLB Trade Rumors: Yankees Linked To Red-Hot Reliever
• Yankees Linked to Former Outfielder in Juicy Trade Rumor
• Yankees in Mix for Pirates All-Star Pitcher
• Yankees Trade Rumors: All-Star Closer On The Market?