Yankees might be forced into 2021 Wild Card Game decision with Anthony Volpe

Take yourself back to 2021. Aaron Judge had yet to win an MVP. Juan Soto was a Washington National. Gelyber Torres was the Yankees’ starting shortstop. ... Or was he? 

While Torres led the Yankees with 108 appearances at shortstop that year, they made the decision to shift him over to second base at the beginning of September with hopes of “taking a little pressure” off Torres, who had committed 18 errors prior to the move. 

He ended up hitting .300/.372/.443 with two home runs in 19 games at second base before starting at the keystone in the Wild Card Game while Andrew Velasquez got the start at shortstop. 

Could that history repeat itself this year with Anthony Volpe, who is one of the worst everyday players in all of baseball? 

Yankees might be forced into 2021 Wild Card Game decision with Anthony Volpe

It’s hard to figure out how to grade this year for Volpe. Yes, he’s hit 19 home runs and driven in 70 runs, but he also leads the American League with 19 errors (one more than Torres had before he got benched) and has clearly taken a step back after a strong 2024 campaign. 

The calls for Volpe’s benching have gotten louder and louder lately as his struggles have gotten more and more acute.

But, unlike Torres, he doesn’t have the positional versatility that would allow him to shift elsewhere. He’s only played shortstop in his major league career, and he only played in five games at a position other than shortstop in the minor leagues. He’s a shortstop through and through, but that doesn’t mean he needs to be the Yankees shortstop through and through. 

It helps that the Yankees have a ready-made Volpe replacement on the roster in José Caballero. While the Yankees acquired him to be a versatile utility bench bat, he’s appeared in 114 games at shortstop in his career and ranks in the 91st percentile in Outs Above Average. 

He may not have the pop of Volpe (he only has 17 career home runs), but he’s also not going to airmail every throw into the opposing dugout. 

The fact we’re at this point with Volpe is already a bit of a failure for the Yankees. He began his career as one of the most-hyped prospects in recent team history, but his career has been far too-up-and-down. 

He’s been saved a bit this year by the amount of star power in the Yankees’ lineup, but things are always heightened in the postseason, especially if the Yankees have to play in a best-of-three Wild Card Series. 

Volpe met the moment (for the most part) during the Yankees' run to the World Series last year. If they’re serious about getting back there this year, it’s time for them to consider an alternative at shortstop.