Yankees fans might break a lamp after seeing predicted 'bounce-back' candidate for 2026

Anthony Volpe's plate struggles in 2025 spoke volumes. His .212 batting average allowed Alex Rodriguez to use Volpe as a prime example of the New York Yankees' flawed hitting philosophy when A-Rod appeared on WFAN recently. Rodriguez complimented Volpe's base-stealing talent, but ultimately said that it's all a waste if the 24-year-old shortstop can't get on base. Career lows in steals (18) and on-base percentage (.272) for Volpe in 2025 only support A-Rod's point.

And while Rodriguez's comments weren't without detractors, it feels like the vast majority of Yankees fans loved what A-Rod said. After all, fans are beyond sick and tired of both Aaron Boone and Brian Cashman continually describing Volpe as a future star while he owns a career .662 OPS and 84 OPS+.

For some weird reason, it seems like there are new Volpe apologists coming out of the woodwork daily. It's not just Boone, Cashman, and certain analysts such as former Yankees catcher Erik Kratz. A new article on MLB.com recently identified a "bounceback" candidate for each club, and when it came to the Yankees, what do you know? There was Volpe.

Yankees fans simply can't understand why people keep expecting great things from Anthony Volpe

The Volpe section of the aforementioned bounceback article was penned by MLB.com's Yankees writer Bryan Hoch, who mentioned Volpe's left labrum tear within the first five words of the write-up. Volpe's shoulder has been a recurring motif showing up to excuse his regression last season. Kratz also highlighted Volpe's shoulder as a way to argue that Anthony playing through the injury actually meant that he improved -- or at least didn't decline -- in 2025.

Hoch also pointed to Volpe's durability as a strength, as if playing everyday and hitting .212 makes you more valuable than a guy on the bench who's hitting .236 whenever his name's called (Jose Caballero in 2025, for what it's worth). Hoch snuck into his piece that Boone would "like to see Volpe get on base more consistently," before reminding us all of Volpe's grand slam in the 2024 World Series as a clear harbinger of future greatness.

No one's here to deny Volpe's clutch World Series moment, nor his suprising Game 1 dinger off of Cy Young runner-up Garrett Crochet in the most recent American League Wild Card Series. We can acknowledge Volpe's pair of playoff homers and slight uptick in production during the big games while also admitting that it's a small sample size, and that Volpe ultimately hit .192 with a .538 OPS in the 2025 postseason (stealing some legitimacy from his strong 2024 playoffs).

With Volpe, there have always been flashes, and there were enough of them to garner him a No. 8 finish in Rookie of the Year voting in 2023, not to mention a Gold Glove. But just as often as his glove's been slick, it's been a liability. And his big hits have been outweighed by prolonged slumps, particularly last season.

Fans don't want to hear that Volpe is about to bounce back. They just want people to stop talking about him completely until he proves that he can put together some sustained production for the first time in his career, or else see himself replaced by someone more deserving of a Yankees position once owned by Derek Jeter.