Anthony Volpe needs to do the exact opposite of what Alex Rodriguez believes

The New York Yankees have watched a seven-game lead in the AL East turn into a two-game deficit by the All-Star break, and while there are plenty of places to point the finger, fans and media seem to have landed on one place in particular: shortstop Anthony Volpe, who's in the midst of a miserable season both at the plate (he has six hits in his last 43 plate appearances and a .671 OPS on the year) and in the field (after posting 13 Outs Above Average at short in 2024, he's at -3 in 2025).

This was once a top-100 prospect who hit 21 homers and stole 24 bases as a 22-year-old rookie back in 2023, and he now looks like one of the worst regulars in the sport. Which brings us to the million-dollar question: What's gone wrong, and how can he fix it?

Former Yankees infielder Alex Rodriguez thinks he has the answer, as he told play-by-play announcer and ESPN Radio host Michael Kay earlier this week. Volpe, at least according to A-Rod, has sold out in an ill-advised attempt to try and hit for power. He needs to get back to a contact-oriented approach, using the whole field and worrying more about batting average than slugging.

"You can't win a World Series with any player hitting .215," Rodriguez told Kay. "It's not acceptable. I would trade Volpe's home runs and RBI, today, right now, for a .280 batting average, 10-12 home runs, 65-75 RBI and give me 40 stolen bases ... tat's a formula to win. And what they're doing today — I'm not sure how to blame, is it Volpe or is it the instruction he's getting? — but it's just not working for winning baseball against great teams."

"He's not Reggie Jackson. With his great [speed], my job would be, 'I don't wanna hit home runs. I wanna hit low line drives, hit ground balls all over the place, force the defense to make errors, become an incredible bunter.' He's not a power guy, he's never going to be a power guy. If he hits 30 home runs, it could be bad for him because he could hit .160."

Which sounds fair enough, at least in the abstract. The Yankees would also probably take a version of Volpe who hits .280 and steals 40 bases with elite shortstop defense, at least compared to what he's doing now. But the problem is that Rodriguez has created a false choice, one that's completely at odds with what the data actually tells us is wrong with Volpe.

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Anthony Volpe needs to try to do more damage at the plate, not less

The frustrating part about this debate is that we've been here before. Volpe got off to a strong start at the plate in 2024, utilizing an approach that put an emphasis on trying to pull the ball in the air (which, it's worth noting, are the batted balls that bring the best odds of a positive outcome). But once he cooled off a little bit, he changed his approach, sacrificing all of his power to try and make as much contact as possible. The results were ugly: He posted a .582 OPS from June 1 onward, striking out 102 times in 102 games.

The numbers bear this trend out. According to The Athletic's Chris Kirschner, Volpe has a career .984 OPS on batted balls he hits with a launch angle of at least 15 degrees. On anything less, those bunts and ground balls A-Rod wants him to focus on? The number drops all the way to .715.

Old habits die hard, and there are still generations of baseball players, coaches and fans who think that batting average is the be-all, end-all of hitter analysis. But what actually matters most are 1) how often is a player getting on base and 2) how much damage are they doing when they put the ball in play. And while Rodriguez insists that Volpe profiles as a slap hitter who focuses on speed and defense, that wasn't the style that made him one of the better shortstop prospects in the sport coming up: He slugged .505 in the Minors, averaging 30 homers per 162 games.

Volpe is never going to hit for a great average; he doesn't have the contact skills for it, even if he focuses exclusively on that part of his game. We've seen that bear out over the last couple of years. What makes him a promising player is his athleticism, his defense and the pop in his bat. The defensive part of this question is a thornier one; Volpe has regressed so badly at short that it's worth wondering whether he's secretly playing through an injury. But offensively, we know who he is, and what the best version of him looks like. That will never be Derek Jeter, but it can be a lot better than what we're seeing right now.