New York—the mecca of baseball—eagerly awaited the “Superman” bobblehead night of the Bronx star Aaron Judge. Rising to the opportunity on his big night, Judge delivered his 27th home run of the 2025 season. He reached the base four times in his first four plate appearances. Entering the Friday night game against the Baltimore Orioles, he was on a cold stretch of 3-for-27, including 16 strikeouts, only one run, and just a single RBI.

After all the struggles over the last two series against the Red Sox and the Angels, the reigning AL MVP went 2 for 4 with a walk and a stunning solo home run in the Yankees’ 5-3 loss to the Orioles. During the third inning, Judge gave the Yankees a game-winning lead by turning around Tomoyuki Sugano’s fastball.

But amid Judge’s historic feat, the slump his teammate Anthony Volpe is going through is hard to overlook.

The young shortstop had yet another hitless night against the Orioles. Judge, who himself had seen fair stretches of slump since his major league debut in 2016, offered a key piece of advice for Volpe.

Judge added, “I think he knows what he needs to work on, and he’s a guy that will definitely outwork anybody in this room, and I have a lot of confidence in him, just like everybody else in this room. So, you know, just go out there and keep doing your thing. That’s the biggest thing…”

Volpe, at 24, is a Gold Glove shortstop. In fact, he has started 73 of 75 Yankees games this season. So, this is just a rough patch. And if Volpe stays easy on himself and keeps giving his best, this stretch will be gone in no time.

“Don’t feel bad for yourself because nobody else, especially the Orioles, doesn’t feel bad for you. So, just keep going out there and keep doing your thing.” Not even the opposing team, with a 33-42 record, sees Volpe as any less of a threat. For now, probably just a small break will be the best for him.

With his 0-for-24 drought extension, Aaron Boone mentioned the possibility of giving Volpe a day off. He doesn’t see a lack of effort. It’s just that Boone believes he isn’t playing the ball as aggressively as is required at this stretch of the season. Consequently, he has made a plan.

Yankees’ temporary plan for Anthony Volpe

After another consecutive underwhelming outing on Friday night, Volpe’s issues at the plate can’t be ignored. He went 0-for-4, giving two strikeouts. It prompted Aaron Boone to give him a reset. He confirmed it himself. After a 5-3 defeat to the Orioles, Boone decided to give him a day off on the weekend. “Probably Sunday.” Boone believes it’ll be great for Volpe to use a day to himself.

It’s not usual for skippers to openly declare a day off two games in advance for a player. Volpe’s career-worst 0-for-24 skid is the roughest he’s ever gone. The Yankees can’t afford to let their young shortstop continue this slump.

The team is facing Orioles pitcher Zach Eflin on Saturday. In the past, Volpe has dominated his starter. He had a .333 batting average with a double against Eflin. And now you know why Boone chose Sunday instead of Saturday. The Yankees are hopeful that Volpe’s Saturday outing might give a glimpse of him breaking out of his slump.

And then on Sunday, the Yankees will be going against the Orioles’ pitcher Dean Kremer. Against him, Volpe has struggled in the past. Naturally, Sunday sounded good to Boone.

Before the Orioles’ Friday game at Yankee Stadium, Boone shared that Volpe might be facing a mechanical issue. He believes the reason why his swing decisions are affected is that he’s stuck a little bit.

So, maybe Sunday’s breather will allow Volpe to give it all a thought and bounce back stronger at his next outing.