Joe Girardi talking about Gary Sánchez as Anthony Volpe spirals is Yankees torture

Guess who the difference maker was in Friday night's loss to the Baltimore Orioles. That would be former New York Yankees slugger Gary Sánchez, who went 2-for-3 with two RBI and a clutch defensive play to tag DJ LeMahieu out at the plate. Nightmare fuel.

To make matters worse, the Anthony Volpe situation continued to spiral for New York. He went 0-for-4 again, this time notching two strikeouts, and failed on three separate occasions with runners in scoring position. He is now 0-for-22 over his last six games and the fanbase is as loud and mad as its ever been.

And it actually reached a point where Aaron Boone agreed to give Volpe a day off — something the Yankees have refused to do since the former first-round pick debuted in 2023. No matter how poorly Volpe was playing over the last 2.5 years, he was never disciplined or given a breather. He had the rare treatment of "being able to figure it out" even though it was evident that he wasn't going to.

Volpe's parallel with Sánchez isn't exactly identical, but there are similarities. Both were top prospects who had the red carpet rolled out for them. Both definitely aren't as bad as many fans believe they are, but their failures in big moments or with fundamental aspects of the game exacerbate the toxic conversation. Both are, in some sense of the term, boom-or-bust bats — they are either on fire with their production or a complete black hole. And they're targets because of their pedigree.

Yankees fans were reminded of Sánchez's tenure in the Bronx when he notched a two-run single off Max Fried in the first inning, and it hit even harder when Michael Kay and Joe Girardi talked about him on the broadcast. Don't forget, Girardi, during his overlap with Sánchez from 2015-2017, reportedly was not a fan of the catcher.

Yankees fans in shambles over Gary Sánchez revenge, Anthony Volpe slump

The Yankees' Circle of Life is a brutal one. There's always a player getting revenge on them, and there's always a "what if" storyline that's torturous. Not to mention, in this situation, we are witnessing in real time how Volpe can eventually become a version of Sánchez if his play continues to crater.

Michael Kay went on an impassioned rant defending Volpe from the insanity of the fanbase, with some claiming he should either be off the team or no longer the starting shortstop. We'd side with Kay there. Volpe might not be great, but he isn't unplayable.

That said ... his failures are so magnified and come in the worst spots that it's hard to not get overly frustrated. When he's slumping, he's legitimately one of the worst hitters in the entire league. Sound familiar? Look no further than Sánchez's 2018 and 2020 campaigns.

But it was especially cruel to have these players' timelines intersect on completely different paths, with Girardi complimenting a former player he had reportedly taken issue with during his managerial reign while Boone agreed to sit Volpe for a day ... oh, whoops, and that day isn't today.

Saturday has the potential to get a whole lot worse now.