Team USA manager dissecting Anthony Volpe's struggles should send message to Yankees

It's year three, and Anthony Volpe's struggles are still one of the New York Yankees' top storylines. The former top prospect has failed to live up to expectations, hitting lows not seen in over a century. There have been promising moments, for sure, like the 24-year-old's midsummer homer barrage, but the flashes have dissipated just as quickly as they came.

Part of the fans' frustration has been the lack of answers the team can provide. Brian Cashman has repeatedly defended the youngster he anointed as the shortstop of the future without anything beyond some token competition. Time and time again, Aaron Boone has rushed to his defense, whether it's been to shield Volpe from criticism about his shaky defense or to protect him from those who rightly point out that we've seen zero growth offensively over the years.

Perhaps most damning, Volpe's own hitting coach can't seem to find a reason for his struggles, though he does go out of his way to defend his work ethic. If the Yankees want to get serious about fixing their prized shortstop, perhaps they need to look outside of the organization.

Team USA manager Mark DeRosa has the recipe the Yankees need to fix the struggling Anthony Volpe

In a breakdown on MLB Network, Team USA manager and analyst Mark DeRosa diagnoses exactly what's wrong with Anthony Volpe and prescribes a remedy to fix what's been ailing him.

There are several things that DeRosa notes, ranging from approach tweaks to mechanical issues to a lack of confidence. A common theme is Volpe seemingly being unprepared to attack first-pitch fastballs that he could punish, leading to him falling behind in the count often.

The next issue, and perhaps the most important, that DeRosa identifies is Volpe's front hip flying open, leading to an out-of-sync lower half. To his eye, the youngster is selling out for power to his detriment and would be better served with an up-the-middle approach.

This, in turn, leaves Volpe in no man's land. He's late and pulling off of fastballs, but out in front of off-speed and breaking pitches, which, as DeRosa notes, have been an Achilles heel for Volpe this year, with him hitting just .174 against non-fastballs as of Sept. 4.

Lastly, DeRosa notes a lack of a two-strike approach, calling attention to a Volpe at-bat against Houston Astros starter Jason Alexander on Sept. 3. In a 2-2 count, DeRosa notes that Volpe should be looking changeup, a pitch Alexander throws 33% of the time, and be able to adjust off of that to hit the fastball, given Alexander's pedestrian 91.9 miles per hour average fastball velocity.

Instead, Volpe isn't prepared for the changeup and instead finds himself stuck, somehow both ahead of the changeup and late on the fastball at the same time, thanks to him pulling off the ball.

DeRosa is hopeful, though. He plays a few clips where Volpe does show flashes and stays back on the ball, driving it into right field. He also has a couple of suggestions for the youngster that the Yankees would be wise to heed.

First, forget about hip rotation and instead focus on driving his hands through the zone. Imagining that there's a flashlight on each hip, he needs to keep them trained off to the side and let the natural movement of his swing open up to promote plate coverage and work to all fields.

Second, Dr. DeRo prescribes a healthy dose of work on the curveball machine to get Volpe in the habit of staying back and feeling comfortable attacking breaking balls and off-speed pitches. Whether or not the Yankees have already tried this approach is unclear, but if they haven't, it might just be what can fix a struggling Volpe.