The New York Yankees have seen their young shortstop Anthony Volpe stumble into some serious trouble at the plate.
Teams have found his weakness, and it’s a simple recipe: feed him a diet of high fastballs and watch him whiff.
The Tampa Bay Rays executed that plan perfectly last week, striking him out with ease and highlighting a troubling pattern in Volpe’s swing mechanics.
Volpe’s Numbers Are Taking a Hit
Through 26 games and 109 plate appearances, Volpe is clinging to a stat line of .202/.303/.394.
He’s slugged four homers, driven in 15 RBIs, and walked at an 11% clip, but his strikeout rate has ballooned to 28.4%.
While he’s generating more power — ranking in the 76th percentile in barrel rate and 67th in average exit velocity — it’s not translating into consistent production.
It’s like putting a turbocharger on a car with no tires; the extra horsepower is impressive, but if you can’t stay on track, it’s not much use.
Boone Defends His Shortstop: “Only a Good Series Away”
Manager Aaron Boone is standing by his shortstop during this rough patch.
“A week ago (Volpe) had an OPS-plus of 800, now he’s just a good series away from being back in that neighborhood,” Boone said.
Boone pointed to the recent road trip, particularly the series against Tampa, where Volpe struggled to handle velocity up in the zone.
“He’s getting beat with some fastballs. Tampa beat him up in the zone a little bit,” Boone acknowledged.
“But, you know, Anthony is walking more, he hits the ball hard. He’s got to get a little more contact, but there’s no reason to think that can’t start to happen again.”
What’s the Path Forward for Anthony Volpe?
The reality is Volpe has always been a streaky hitter.
Cold stretches were part of the package even during his rookie campaign, but the high fastball problem is a glaring weakness that opposing teams will continue to exploit.
Fixing it will require some adjustments to his swing path or pitch selection strategies.
The Yankees can only hope that Boone’s optimism pays off, because they need Volpe to be more than a defensive wizard if they want to contend for a title this year.
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