David Cone validates Yankees fans' frustration with Anthony Volpe on YES broadcast

During Tuesday's broadcast of the Yankees vs. Blue Jays contest on Canada Day, the YES Network was ready to address the tough issues. Michael Kay and David Cone decided to open the can of worms that was handed to them the night before when Anthony Volpe made two unsightly defensive miscues, then defended himself in the postgame - with help from manager Aaron Boone.

In the fourth inning with Volpe up to bat, the YES broadcast showed the clips of Volpe's throwing error to third base and his ill-advised throw to first base on an infield single in which the runner was safe by a mile. Both throws allowed a runner to advance into scoring position.

And guess what? Those two runners scored in a 5-4 loss for New York. Once again, shoddy defense rears its ugly head and costs this team a game. It was the talking point of the 2024 World Series, but apparently the Yankees refuse to address reality and would rather hold up a forcefield when it comes to tough topics to discuss.

We will say this: most fans irrationally freak out, like the ones calling for Volpe to no longer be a starter for the Yankees. Volpe hasn't been great, but he's not a negative WAR player. Let's pump the brakes and make reasonable criticisms in stride. Once you start veering off far in that direction, the argument gets lost.

That's why we have David Cone, who's been among the most eloquent figures on the broadcast in recent years. Here's what he had to say about Volpe's defense:

"The best defenders are the ones that anticipate the flow," Cone said. "If the ball is hit here, and this guy is running, I know what my probabilities are. In that particular spot [referring to the throw Volpe made on the Ernie Clement infield single that allowed the runner on second to advance to third] it was another extra base that was given up there on a very minimal chance of throwing the runner out at first. The first play, the play at third, I understand. Aggressive. That's his game. You don't want to take that away. There's also 'field awareness' where you understand who is running ahead of time. You don't want to give up an extra base."

Why couldn't ... Aaron Boone just say this in the postgame? Why does everything have to be "I Stand With [Insert Player Name]" and not "I see what you're saying there, but this is an important player on this team. That said, we know this needs to be cleaned up because we always want to get better on defense."

Why did David Cone defend Anthony Volpe better than Yankees manager Aaron Boone?

Boone's unflinching defense on Volpe brought back the recent memory of him leaping to support his shortstop for attempting a steal of second base with zero outs in extra innings against the Red Sox. Volpe was thrown out and the Yankees lost the game. Boone was on board with Volpe's aggressiveness, despite there being absolutely no need for aggression in a scenario where the Yankees completely controlled their fate and already had a runner in scoring position.

If you watch enough of these games, listen to enough of the questions asked by people like Meredith Marokovits, and hear enough well-articulated criticisms from Kay, Cone, Paul O'Neill and Jack Curry, it's obvious there's a clear disconnect with what the team actually views as "reality."