Anthony Volpe's dazzling finale vs Blue Jays proves why Yankees still have hope

On Sunday, New York Yankees shortstop Anthony Volpe delivered a performance against the Toronto Blue Jays that reminded everyone of his talent. Volpe tallied a pair of RBI singles that broke a tie and gave the Yanks the lead over Toronto on both occasions. He also flashed a brilliant glove on two separate plays. All of this had Yankees fans and writers alike throwing praise in Volpe's direction.

At the same time, Volpe's big day only reinforced the sad reality that these types of days for him are rare. The only thing consistent about Volpe during his Yankees career has been Aaron Boone's stubborn support of him, which slightly gave way for the first time this season amid José Caballero's excellent play.

More influential in fans' minds than Volpe's flashes of quality are the painful memories of his extended stretches of pure struggle. And there have been far too many of these stretches in Volpe's career for fans to be comfortable about Volpe being considered the team's future shortstop. They'd much rather give George Lombard Jr. that title.

It's not just Volpe's limp bat that's turned off Yankees Nation; it's his tendency to make mental gaffes, his weird behavior during interviews, and also the organization's coddling of him. That last one isn't necessarily Volpe's fault, but it still contributes to his unfortunate reputation.

Anthony Volpe always does just enough to make the Yankees want to keep believing

Despite his general underperformance, whenever a Volpe blue moon arrives, it shines brighter than almost anything else on the diamond. Remember last season's American League Wild Card series, in which Volpe gloriously went yard off of Boston Red Sox ace Garrett Crochet? Volpe went 4-for-11 in the series and was arguably New York's best offensive player over the three-game stretch.

He then went 1-for-15 with 11 strikeouts in the American League Division Series against the Blue Jays.

At his best, Volpe is a dynamic player who even shows hints of having the clutch gene. But his best doesn't show up nearly enough, and his everyday, normal production leaves a lot to be desired. Here's the thing: the Yankees don't need Volpe to be Superman. They've never needed that. They've just needed him to be Clark Kent, who is a very solid journalist for the Daily Planet. Far more solid than Volpe as a baseball player, in fact.

Talent alone only gets you through the door in professional baseball. Once you're in the room, it's mental makeup alone that will enable consistency and any type of sustained success.

Volpe's got a ton of talent — there's a reason he was such a lauded prospect. But his fragile discipline at the plate, his baserunning mistakes, and his (at times) head-scratching defense all point to a guy who hasn't fully developed the mental fortitude needed to weather the storms of an MLB career and remain constant.

Every player goes through peaks and valleys, but the objective is not to allow your valleys to descend far deeper than your peaks (leading to a downward trend overall). That's how you arrive at sustained production.

The most eager Volpe apologists will remind you that he's still relatively young at 25 years old. That's fair. On the other hand, we've seen a pretty substantial sample size of Volpe in the big leagues, and besides, the Yankees are in win-now mode. They aren't in the business of waiting around for Volpe any longer. But at least they got a win out of it on Sunday.

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