Key Points
Bullet point summary by AI
- A Yankees shortstop has struggled to meet expectations despite reaching base at a career-high rate this season.
- The team's performance dips significantly when this player starts, compared to a clear alternative already on the roster.
- The decision to keep the struggling player over a more productive option now threatens a playoff push in a tight division race.
The advent of technology and analytics has made it far easier for managers and baseball executives to defend sticking with struggling players, often citing new-fangled terms like launch angle or spin rate. That said, we’d love to hear New York Yankees manager Aaron Boone’s newest reason for keeping struggling shortstop Anthony Volpe in the lineup.
Although Volpe is reaching base at a career-high .340 clip, his .668 OPS is right in line with his .662 lifetime average. His defense remains incredibly underwhelming, and that’s being generous. We’ll even go so far as to say that Volpe is essentially the same player he was upon debuting in 2023.
Yet, Boone and general manager Brian Cashman refuse to give up their Volpe love affair and turn to José Caballero as their everyday shortstop.
The Yankees are statistically a worse team when Anthony Volpe starts over José Caballero
The YES Network flashed an interesting, albeit unsurprising, graphic during Monday’s Yankees-Rays game. Entering play, the Yankees were 31-18 when Caballero started at shortstop, compared to 16-20 in games that Volpe started. Granted, there have been games where both were in the lineup, but the point remains: Volpe only hurts the Yankees’ chances of winning games.
We’ve long since moved beyond the point of simply criticizing Volpe because he’s never met expectations. Boone has spent nearly four years talking up Volpe and claiming that the 25-year-old still has age and potential working in his favor. But when a player has over 500 games and 2,000 regular-season plate appearances under his belt, at what point do you accept that sample size for what it is?
When asked about Volpe’s defense, Boone has frequently noted the shortstop’s 2023 Gold Glove. Watching Volpe play the field, though, is immensely painful. Even on plays where he’s not charged with an error, he looks lost and unsure of himself.
Caballero hit two homers on Monday night, pushing his OPS to .711 in nearly 300 plate appearances. He’s already stolen 20 bases, giving him an opportunity to become the first Yankee with 40 steals since Brett Gardner in 2011.
Why, then, wouldn’t the Yankees want Caballero in the everyday lineup? Volpe, who has only played shortstop, still has Minor League options. If the Yankees are still truly that high on Volpe as a potential franchise cornerstone, you’d think they’d have sent him to Triple-A by now and either made him the starting shortstop there or had him start learning either second or third base. That way, he could possibly improve his defense, gain confidence and validate the team's faith in him.
But Volpe exemplifies the Boone and Cashman partnership in a nutshell. They believe that they know better than everyone else, and they mix stubbornness with whatever internal metrics or narratives have them thinking that Volpe can eventually turn it around. It’s also entirely possible that they’ve talked themselves into believing Volpe will become an All-Star shortstop.
Regardless, Volpe cannot remain in the daily lineup. The Yankees are likely to enter the All-Star Break either tied for first or behind the Rays in the AL East. Aaron Judge and Giancarlo Stanton remain out indefinitely, and All-Star pitcher Carlos Rodón just hit the IL with an elbow injury. Waiting on Volpe to suddenly crack the code carries far more risks than benefits.
Forget the advanced numbers. All that you need to know is the Yankees are 14 games above .500 when Caballero starts at shortstop, and they're four games under when Volpe starts. Do Boone and Cashman truly need more of a reason to make the full-time switch to Caballero?
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