Anthony Volpe has lost all credibility as future Yankees cornerstone player

Think we want to write this? Think we didn't wait as long as we possibly could before we absolutely had to write this? Well, here you have it, Yankees fans: Anthony Volpe can no longer be considered a real, everyday player for New York. Time to remove the kid gloves.

Volpe's been treated like a prince his entire Yankees tenure, which is embarrassing when you realize how far the standards have fallen in the Bronx. But somehow, over time, especially the last five years, the Yankees have rewarded poor play and punished progress. It's been the undercover ethos of the organization, whether they've realized it or not.

This isn't just your classic unfounded Yankees fan outrage as a result of us not getting our way. It has nothing to do with being "entitled" because of the record-setting number of trophies collected over the years. It's actually a lesson in how players should be held accountable across all teams in MLB.

Volpe's ghastly error that cost the Yankees on Sunday finally put everybody over the edge. It was one thing to completely disappear on offense (we'll get to that in a moment). Baseball is hard. Slumping happens. Volpe is still young. But to watch basic defensive duties fall by the wayside, too? Unacceptable.

Overall, Volpe's defense has taken a step forward in 2024. His range has been impressive. His arm strength hasn't nearly been as problematic as it seemed it might always be last year. His 10 Outs Above Average and 5 Defensive Runs Saved are very, very good. But this isn't the first time he's botched a routine play when the pressure was on. And, quite frankly, fans would trade the spectacular range plays for security in high-leverage moments. Volpe doesn't seem to possess the latter, which is a problem.

Volpe made 17 errors last year. He's made 10 this year. He's on pace to ... produce the same output as 2023 on both sides of the ball. But more importantly, it comes down to being able to stop the bleeding and make the plays you're in control of. Almost every Yankees player has had trouble doing that, so Volpe isn't being singled out here. There's plenty of criticism to go around.

But to consider Volpe the "shortstop of the future" seems patently insane right now. The New York Post's Joel Sherman made mention of some of the league's other high-quality young shortstops this week. Look at this extensive list. Bobby Witt Jr. Gunnar Henderson. Elly De La Cruz. CJ Abrams. Ezequiel Tovar. Masyn Winn. Zach Neto. Jeremy Peña. Volpe isn't even close to them! But he was somehow anointed the "next best thing" for the Yankees despite 22 average games at Triple-A and an impressive 2023 spring training.

Meanwhile, the Yankees didn't even consider it a possibiltiy Volpe would be optioned back to the minor leagues if he struggled in 2023. And he struggled greatly, in a prolonged manner. And we're seeing it again.

Across his last 41 games, Volpe is hitting .191/.222/.270. That is 42% of his season. Yes, we praised Volpe for his surge to begin the 2024 season, but he gave it all away and is now hitting .245/.300/.366, which is barely better than his .209/.283/.383 line from 2024. In fact, all that's in line to improve year over year are his runs scored and batting average. Everything else is either going to worsen or be right in line with the 2023 totals.

What's even more concerning is the fact Volpe has reverted back to the mechanics that plagued him prior to the Chicken Parm Accord with Austin Wells last year. In fact, the advanced metrics this year are even worse in more categories than you might expect! He's not making contact with enough strikes, he's chasing too many balls, and he's not swinging enough at balls in the zone.

Nobody was asking Anthony Volpe to be an All-Star the moment he touched down in MLB. But once upon a time there was a discussion about him going toe-to-toe with Gunnar Henderson, and it couldn't be a worse comparison. Henderson, and the aforementioned names above, are miles ahead of Volpe and have a similar amount of experience in the big leagues.

Volpe very clearly isn't a developed player. A developed player would show signs of consistency. A developed player wouldn't fumble the bag spectacularly in big moments. But the Yankees made their bed when they decided they were going to treat Volpe differently from every prospect that came before him, even though there wasn't an overly discernible difference in talent or tangible production.

The 23-year-old has plenty of time to figure it out, but this is looking more and more like a player development nightmare of the Yankees' own doing.