Anthony Volpe’s Struggles Continue

It wasn’t a good day for Anthony Volpe yet again.

The young shortstop for the Yankees had another challenging outing, both at the plate and in the field, as the team suffered a 4-1 defeat to the Bronx Cubs. This marked another day of missed opportunities; the Yankees now sit at 70-70 since June 23rd.

As for Volpe, his batting average has dropped to .214, with an OPS of .671. It’s been a while since he had a multi-hit game, the last one dating back to June 21st.

Defensively, it seems he’s struggling too. Over the past few games, he’s made a total of seven mistakes, which is alarming.

During Sunday’s game, he committed two errors. One noteworthy moment came when Cubs speedster Pete Crow-Armstrong hit a ground ball. There were two outs and a base runner on second. Volpe’s throw to first was off, allowing Seiya Suzuki to score. Both Volpe and manager Aaron Boone acknowledged that Volpe should have focused on getting Crow-Armstrong out instead of worrying about the runner on third.

Boone commented, “They did a good job taking advantage of our incomplete plays. If the throw was on target, he would have been out.”

It seems Volpe’s confidence is wavering. He needs to assert himself more during plays. Unfortunately, his recent defensive mistakes are piling up, like just casually tossing the ball on a grounder, which could lead to disastrous outcomes.

After one of his gaffes, he mentioned needing to be more aggressive. “As a shortstop, you have to go for the best hop and, maybe, adjust your throw a bit,” Volpe said.

As the All-Star Break approaches, it’s tough to see him finding his rhythm. “Thinking about the ups and downs, I see plenty of room for improvement,” he admitted. “I’m looking forward to the second half and contributing more to the team every night.”