Anthony Volpe's under-the-radar key role fueled turning point Yankees moment vs Red Sox

New York Yankees shortstop Anthony Volpe deserves the label of big-game player until proven otherwise. Volpe just went 4-for-11 with a home run, two RBI, and seven total bases in New York’s epic ALWC series victory over the Boston Red Sox. Volpe’s four hits tied Aaron Judge for the most among Yankees players in the series; his seven total bags were a team-high, with Ben Rice’s five coming in second. Volpe’s homer in Game 1 off a filthy Garrett Crochet did wonders for the Yankees’ confidence and morale. What’s more, Volpe was effortlessly smooth on defense in a nail-biting environment, making difficult or dangerous plays look easy and routine.

Yes, Volpe would have an argument for ALWC MVP (along with Cam Schlittler) if that were a real thing. And what’s pleasantly surprising about all of this for Yankees fans is that Volpe seemed to activate his swaggering, elite play only once the playoffs began. This isn’t a brand new development, however. Volpe is now hitting .300/ .400/ .450/ .850 in 17 postseason games in his career; he’s a .222/ .283/ .379/ .662 career hitter in the regular season.

Volpe’s playoff sample size is still relatively small, but grinning Yankees fans are nonetheless beginning to wonder, ‘Does Volpe have the clutch gene?’

Anthony Volpe activated his best self for the Yankees in the ALWC

Volpe’s 2025 regular season was wrought with constant struggles and some deep, dark lows. He hit .212/ .272/ .391/ .663 with 19 home runs and 72 RBI -- a step backwards from his 2024 season (.243/ .293/ .364/ .657), albeit with some more slug. He also finished tied for third in MLB with errors (19) in 2025.

Comparing slash lines or citing his defensive regression doesn’t tell the full story of Volpe’s 2025 woes, though. He went through multiple awful slumps, the most severe of which resulted in a brief benching in August by a manager who has backed Volpe during times when seemingly everyone else on Earth has not.

After an awful August, September’s arrival didn’t help Volpe turn the page. He went 2-for-21 in the first half of the month. Media members following the Yankees pretty much unanimously called for his benching (how could they not?), with José Caballero looking like a viable replacement at starting shortstop.

Though Aaron Boone diminished Volpe’s usage, he never once declared that Volpe was anything other than New York’s starting shortstop. Well, Volpe certainly looked and played like he deserves that title over the last three games, two of which were New York’s most important, do-or-die games of the entire season.

Volpe’s tendency to completely lock in when it matters most wasn’t just evident in the ALWC when he stepped into the batter’s box or showed off his reactivated slick glove. The 24-year-old showed off his IQ and winning mentality in smaller moments, like when he provided Jazz Chisholm Jr. with key intel as Chisholm flew around the bases in the eighth inning of Game 2 and ultimately scored from first, giving the Yankees a 4-3 lead and turning the tables on the entire series.

Volpe was standing in the on-deck circle when this all went down, and his contributions to the game-winning play weren’t lost on MLB Network’s Mark DeRosa.

“(Jazz was) moving on a 3-2 (count),” DeRosa said in analyzing Game 2’s pivotal moment. “(He was) electric going around the bases, cutting them perfectly, and (it was) just a fantastic job by Anthony Volpe at the plate to alert Jazz as he's coming around third base … to slide to the outside.”

As DeRosa recounted, Volpe became a winning part of the play by stepping beyond the on-deck circle, tracking Nate Eaton’s laser throw from right field, and making sure Chisholm knew just how and where to slide.

Chisholm was barely safe in the end, despite achieving one of the fastest ever first-to-home routes in the Statcast era. It was not only a turning point for the game, but for the entire series. In a matter of seconds, the Yankees’ 2025 title dreams went from drowning to soaring, and Volpe was right there in the middle of it all.