There’s cold, and then there’s Anthony Volpe cold. The Yankees‘ 23-year-old shortstop has hit a serious offensive wall, and it’s becoming hard to ignore. While his glove continues to provide value, his bat has all but vanished, leaving the Yankees in a precarious spot in the lineup.
Defense Keeping Volpe Afloat
Volpe remains one of the league’s best defensive shortstops, which is the only thing propping up his current value. In just 176 innings this season, he’s already racked up four defensive runs saved and one out above average.
He makes the routine look easy and the difficult look flashy. That elite glove work keeps him in the lineup, but it’s not hiding the fact that he’s nearly unplayable offensively right now.
The Numbers Are Brutal
Volpe is hitting just .197/.295/.408 over 76 at-bats, including a .703 OPS. His strikeout rate has ballooned to 28.9%, despite sitting in the 80th percentile for chase rate and 83rd percentile for barrel rate. That’s a fancy way of saying he’s swinging at the right pitches and hitting the ball hard—when he hits it at all.
He’s picked up four home runs and 15 RBIs, which suggests some timely contact. But the bottom line is, he’s not making enough of it.
Volpe is 3 for his last 36, dating back to April 7. That stretch includes 16 strikeouts and very little in the way of productive plate appearances.
The League Has Found a Weakness
Pitchers have figured out the plan: go high in the zone and avoid leaving anything down where Volpe can drive it. It’s working like a charm. He’s hitting just .100 against breaking balls this season and struggling badly with fastballs up in the zone. Every swing seems like a guess, and more often than not, it’s a miss.
The book is out, and teams are reading every page.
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The Yankees Need Volpe to Adjust
Volpe is clearly trying to barrel balls and not expand his zone, which is the right process. But the contact just isn’t there. Eventually, he’s going to have to adjust his approach to combat those high heaters and start laying off or catching up to them—or pitchers will keep feeding them until he does.
The Yankees are still winning games, but Volpe’s slump is one of the coldest in baseball. With how loud his struggles are at the plate, the bat needs to warm up before the glove alone isn’t enough to justify everyday starts.