Cashman and Boone Blamed for Anthony Volpe Disasterclass That Could Cost Their Yankees Jobs

The Yankees shortstop has now committed his 18th error of the season—trailing only Elly De La Cruz among all MLB players. Riding a four-game winning streak into Thursday, the Yankees pushed it to five against the Chicago white Sox. However, after committing yet another costly error, Volpe gave fans and analysts alike a reason to groan.

Boone had benched Volpe after watching him struggle against the Red Sox. After a brief two-game reset, Volpe eventually worked his way back into the lineup this week. Against the White Sox, he was positioned well to make a play against designated hitter Edgar Quero.

Yet, he couldn’t field it cleanly and the error ultimately proved costly. It led to a four-run second inning for the White Sox, including a game-tying grand slam by Miguel Vargas.

Despite the error, the Yankees did manage to notch a 10-4 win. However, Aaron Boone and Brian Cashman were regardless criticized for the way they’ve been handling Anthony Volpe’s slump.

He believes Volpe has been long overdue for a break. In fact, recently against the Washington Nationals, his 0-for-5 performance—capped by a wave-and-miss strikeout—earned him relentless boos from the fans.

That’s why it’s important for Anthony Volpe to take a breather, as pointed out by Joe Randazzo from SI. “Boo Brian Cashman and Aaron Boone for allowing Anthony Volpe to struggle as long as he has. This is on them and anybody making decisions for the Yankees,” he said. Even as per YankeesPod host Jimmy Randazzo, Volpe deserves a minimum reset of seven days. He also suggested that working closely with a sports psychologist might help him. “He’s barely breathing,” he noted.

On the contrary, despite Volpe’s offensive struggles, Boone has always backed his young shortstop. He praised Volpe’s defensive consistency, highlighting his solid play in the field over the past month.

It’s uncertain if they will return if the Yankees miss the playoffs, as also noted by Ken Rosenthal from the Athletic. For now, each of Anthony Volpe’s errors sharpens the call for a change.

Anthony Volpe’s new low unmatched in Yankees’ 120 years of history

The Yankees’ history goes way back to 1903 when they were known as the New York Highlanders. They became the Yankees in 1913. That means, technically speaking, the only man in franchise history with a worse mark than Volpe, Dave Fultz, was never technically a Yankee.

Fultz had recorded a shocking .029 OBP over a 10-game stretch in 1905. It was the final season of his seven-year big league career. Born in 1875, his numbers are almost unimaginable by today’s standards.

Coming back to Anthony Volpe, he has touched the new lows during brutal stretches of games. Over his last 10 games before Thursday, 36.4% of his at-bats have ended in strikeouts. This icy performance has erased much of the goodwill he built earlier in the season when his homer-filled streak had fans excited.

He was once celebrated as a golden boy with immense talent and a high baseball IQ. But now, fans are calling for the Yankees to move on from Volpe and turn to Jose Caballero.

Still, Anthony Volpe isn’t going to stay this bad forever. Boone has time and again defended him like he always does with his players, but let’s see if Volpe is able to make a strong comeback as Boone believes.