Anthony Volpe gave Aaron Boone 2 glaring reasons to bench him after Yankees' sweep

Some might say New York Yankees fans and the media have been piling on Anthony Volpe, but the truth is that the shortstop continues to fan the flames with his concerning play. Even in an 11-2 win over the Washington Nationals (a series sweep), he managed to make things worse for the discourse.

The Bombers piled on the struggling Nats and blew it open with a nine-run inning in the third. That featured the Nationals throwing 77 pitches and facing 15 Yankees batters. Four homers were hit. They logged four other hits, three walks and reached base via a catcher's interference. It was quite the scene.

When all was said and done, though, Volpe made two of the three outs in the marathon inning. He struck out to end the frame and lined out to second base when there were zero outs (five batters before him went to the plate and reached base safely before that, too).

Volpe finished the day going 0-for-5 with two strikeouts, which felt impossible since everybody else contributed meaningfully. The only other batter not to record a hit was Jazz Chisholm, but he walked three times and stole a base. Ryan McMahon and Austin Wells, both of whom have been largely ice cold, hit homers.

Another day devoid of production put Volpe in one of the most heinous short-term slumps in Yankees history. He has one hit and zero walks in his last 11 games, good for a .027 on-base percentage — the worst 11-game stretch in Yankees history for a non-pitcher. That's obviously a pretty aggressive split stat, but it's yet another unforgivable stretch. Volpe is 1-for-37 over that span and is hitting .204 with a .662 on the year.

Yankees might have most glaring evidence yet to keep sitting Anthony Volpe

Boone already benched Volpe for two straight games, but it's now becoming an even more serious issue with Jose Caballero as a formidable replacement. When Oswald Peraza was the other option, the argument felt hollow. When the Yankees didn't have a backup shortstop, the argument felt hollow.

But Brian Cashman went out and acquired depth at the trade deadline, and he may have indirectly forced a more difficult conversation to be had. The Yankees have all but officially ruined Volpe's development, and if they want to make a postseason run then he cannot be getting everyday reps. Playing him a couple times per week? Sure, that should be on the table. But we're moving toward a world in which he isn't the starter. He's gotten worse for the third straight season.

Everything reached a boiling point over the weekend when major media outlets got louder about Volpe's lowly production, echoing what New York fans had been complaining about for a few years now. Boone can defend Volpe all he wants, but the noise on social media is the loudest it's ever been, and national writers are getting in on the action.

Caballero needs to start the series opener against the White Sox on Thursday, and then Boone can play the matchups after that. But Volpe, at the very least, shouldn't be in the lineup when there's a right-handed starter on the mound. He's fully lost the opportunity, and emphasized that Wednesday when he was the only Yankee who failed to reach base in a blowout victory against a fleet of pitchers with 4.00-5.00 ERAs.