The Yankees have been heating up at the right time, putting together a solid stretch. They just beat the Blue Jays and swept both the Nationals and the White Sox. But does that guarantee them a playoff spot? Not quite. Because the race is still tight, especially with the Red Sox right there alongside them, trailing by only a couple more losses. And that also means Aaron Boone’s job isn’t exactly safe.

MLB insider Bob Nightengale recently pointed out that Boone’s future could be in jeopardy after such an underwhelming season. “The Yankees certainly need to make the playoffs for Boone to retain his job. The big question is how deep in the playoffs they need to go for Boone’s job to be secure?”

And one big reason has been his questionable handling of Anthony Volpe at shortstop. However, the frustrating part is that Boone doesn’t seem to have learned from those mistakes yet. “Aaron Boone said he considered starting Jose Caballero tonight, but Anthony Volpe remains the starting shortstop. He said the Yankees believe and hope his best days are here for us and down the stretch, hopefully into October. We saw that last year from him, how good he was for us in October,” insider Bryan Hoch reports.

So, defensively, Volpe has made things difficult for the Yankees this year. He leads the AL with 19 errors, and that’s the second-highest after Elly De La Cruz. Offensively, Volpe’s wRC+ sits at 82, well below the league average of 100. Moreover, his OPS is just .663, ranking near the bottom!

But even with those struggles, Boone keeps penciling Volpe in at shortstop, starting him in 140 of the Yankees’ 143 games this season. “But I view Anthony as our shortstop,” Boone remarked on August 25 during the Nationals series. While NYY swept the series, Volpe got a total of 9 at-bats, but still couldn’t score a run, hit, or RBI, or anything. So, right now, it feels like a clear sign that the Yankees are still banking on a turnaround, even putting Volpe ahead of options like Castellanos, who has logged over 1,100 innings at short with four defensive runs saved and nine OAA.

And at this stage of the season, it seems like Boone is essentially betting his own job on “hope and belief” that Volpe figures it out.

Volpe was a beauty last year for the Yankees, and that’s it

In last year’s postseason, Volpe actually showed up big for the Yankees. He slashed .286/.407/.408 with three doubles and six RBIs. And we still remember that grand slam in Game 4 of the World Series. Even more, his bat speed ticked up to 71.6 mph in the playoffs compared to 69.5 mph during the regular season! That’s a performance worth praising.

But the contrast is hard to ignore. Over the course of that same regular season, Volpe slashed just .243/.293/.364 with 12 HRs and 60 RBIs. So, struggles in the regular season aren’t new for him, though this year, his defensive miscues have only worsened.

Even so, Boone continues to lean on Volpe, clearly drawing faith from that postseason spark. For him, it’s enough reason to believe in Volpe again, even if it means risking the Yankees’ playoff push and his own job security.

And now, with Volpe still locked in as the team’s everyday shortstop, Derek Jeter has stepped in with advice for the young infielder. “You gotta stay positive. Gotta keep working. From everything I’ve seen, he’s gotten a lot of support from his teammates and from the front office. That’s a good sign. So, you just gotta go out there and try to be as consistent as possible.”

So, it would be worth watching whether Boone’s faith and Jeter’s pep talk can help Volpe finally turn things around for the Yankees.