Before the Yankees faced the Red Sox, manager Aaron Boone mentioned he was contemplating bringing Anthony Volpe into the game, especially with options available at shortstop after acquiring Jose Caballero before the trade deadline.
“I thought about it the other day, particularly with Caballero on the team,” Boone noted. “It’s a possibility, but I wasn’t looking to do that today since they have a left-handed pitcher.”
It seems Volpe might have needed a boost. He recorded his 17th error of the season in what turned out to be a rough 12-1 defeat in nine innings.
In addition to the error, he attempted a questionable sacrifice bunt during the game, which came during a stretch when the Yankees were chasing three runs.
Boone stepped in to defend Volpe. During a nine-run ninth inning, Volpe made an errant throw to David Hamilton, contributing to his error count as a rookie.
“Yes, Volpe made a mistake. It’s his first one in several weeks,” the manager remarked. “Overall, he’s been playing really well but made some inaccurate throws.”
There was also a mental lapse for Volpe on Friday night when Jarren Duran took two bases. Ceddanne Rafaela hit a grounder to Volpe, but instead of making a routine throw to first, he aimed for Jazz Chisholm Jr. at second—resulting in Duran being safe.
Boone acknowledged that it was “not the right play,” but he also described it as a “head play.”
Offensively, it’s tough to support Volpe right now. His batting average for August stands at .169, with a 1-for-28 slump.
This has caused his OPS for the season to drop to .675 and his batting average to plummet to .208.
Despite this, Boone kept Volpe in the lineup for Saturday’s game. However, Volpe struggled again, failing to execute a sacrifice bunt.
The Yankees’ shortstop is clearly feeling the pressure, receiving more boos from the crowd. Perhaps a break, as Boone suggested, could be helpful for him.
