Yankees Shortstop Anthony Volpe in Yet Another Slump

Anthony Volpe Mired in Another Offensive Slump

Bang or Bust?

While Volpe has had a lot of troubles at the plate throughout his short career, his status as a former top prospect raises fans’ and the front office’s expectations to a very high level, a level that it doesn’t look like he can achieve. And, thanks to his ongoing slump (he has a .162/.223/.270 slash line over his last 30 games), there has been a lot of clamor about Volpe being a bust.

There’s no denying that it can be tough to watch Volpe when he’s going through the wringer offensively. In his rookie year, he hit 21 home runs and stole 24 bases while winning a Gold Glove, which mostly made his .209 average and OPS+ of 81 look a little better. In his sophomore season, he slightly improved his offensive numbers while continuing to play great defense. Now, in his third season as a major leaguer, both his offensive and defensive numbers have not just plateaued, but worsened.

Getting Worse, or Improving?

As concerning as it looks, Volpe is still a (slightly) above-average player. He registered brWARs of 3.3 and 3.4 in his first two seasons, respectively, and he has still managed to post a 1.2 brWAR through 92 games this season. But, because he was supposed to be the next Derek Jeter (or perhaps Gunnar Henderson, who was ranked just four spots above him in MLB’s prospect rankings), Volpe has become the scapegoat for the Yankees’ recent struggles, having lost 6 out of 7 before sweeping the Seattle Mariners.

However, there are some statistics that suggest Volpe is still improving on offense, or at least has the potential to. For one, he is currently on pace for 85 RBI, 70 runs, and 60 walks, all of which would be career highs. Even his current OPS of .676 would be the highest tally of his young career. Plus, he is just 24 years old, so even a slight improvement is still improvement.

Better Than He Looks

The thing that is dragging down his performance as a whole is his deteriorating defense, with his 11 errors being the third-most in the league. However, most of them are a result of trying to make a spectacular play instead of eating the ball. When he matures mentally and learns that not every play has to be made, his defense will probably go back to being at a Gold Glove level.

Though it seems like Volpe is turning out to be a bust in terms of being a top-5 level shortstop, he is still very serviceable, especially with his potent speed. On Thursday night against Seattle, he practically won the game for the Yankees on a play where any other player would have been out. He also has periodic hot streaks at the plate that (almost) cancel out the cold ones. If he can figure out how to stay consistent both on offense and defense, the Yankees should feel pretty good about their franchise shortstop.