BALTIMORE — Instead of challenging fellow Orioles shortstop Gunnar Henderson or the Royals’ Bobby Witt Jr. for an All-Star Game spot, Anthony Volpe ended the first half in miserable fashion.
Volpe was in the midst of a brutal slump that had lasted more than a month, and on Sunday he made an error with two outs in the bottom of the ninth inning, allowing a run that extended the innings and led to a 6-5 loss to the Orioles.
Regarding Ryan Mountcast’s simple grounder in the bottom of the ninth inning, Volpe said, “I still don’t understand it. To me, it was just a regular grounder.”
Instead, he said, his footwork was poor and he didn’t get to the ball properly in time to use his power at second base.
Then Cedric Mullins hit a high fly ball to left that Alex Verdugo misplayed for a game-winning double.
“I knew it was a play I had to make and it didn’t matter what happened after,” Volpe said of his mistake.
“That was a tough play,” manager Aaron Boone said. “Nobody wants to hit us with the ball anymore. It happened, and we’ve got to move on.”
But it’s emblematic of just how badly Volpe has gotten himself into.
Volpe is off to a strong start in his second major league season, but as of Sunday he had an OPS of just .602 in 81 games played.
And after June 6, the situation got even worse.
In 34 games before Sunday’s loss, Volpe had hit a double and scored one run, but had a .424 OPS (with no home runs) in 154 at-bats.
“I think he’s still a young guy working on it,” Boone said. “It’s no secret he made some changes to his swing over the winter and he’s struggled the last few weeks, but I think it’s part of the process for a 22-year-old to gain experience, learn and become a more complete player.”
There have been no signs recently.
During the offseason, Volpe worked to change his approach and create more contact to avoid losing his power after hitting 21 home runs as a rookie.
But for most of this season, Volpe has done very little, whether batting leadoff or lower down the order.
“in the end, [hurt his power numbers]”Are there going to be growing pains to get there? Eventually, I think he’ll get some power back into his game,” Boone said.
At the very least, the process this season has been tough.
“It’s been a little tough going through this,” Boone said.
His OPS this season is .666, worse than all but two AL-qualified shortstops, and it continues to decline.
Before the game, Boone said the All-Star break would be good for the players both physically and mentally.
Perhaps this also applies to Volpe, who also struggled in the second half of last season.
For the Yankees to return to the heights they reached through the first two-plus months of the year, Volpe will have to be the player he has been for most of that time.
