Anthony Volpe deserves to retake Yankees’ leadoff spot

New York Yankees’ shortstop Anthony Volpe has been on a roller coaster ride of a season.

His hot start earned him the role of leadoff hitter. Hitting in front of Juan Soto and Aaron Judge, he had a very important job to do. But his performance became unsatisfactory (except on the bases as Volpe has 19 stolen bases this season).

Failing to get on base before such elite sluggers was deemed unacceptable as many RBI opportunities were lost. So, Aaron Boone moved him back in the lineup. What went wrong?

On June 5, Volpe had a .290 AVG. That’s when things went downhill very quickly. By July 13, he was hitting .245. To make matters worse, Volpe went through a 56-game home run drought. Still, Volpe was never known as a power hitter. Prior to the drought, Volpe had hit six home runs. But recently, something remarkable started to unfold.

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Volpe’s great stretch

Since hitting rock bottom on July 13, Volpe quickly started putting it back together. In his past 15 games, Volpe is slashing 365/.375/.683. Even better, he has hit five home runs in his last 11 games. Despite not being a power hitter, Volpe has really discovered some pop. In those fifteen games, Volpe has brought his average back up to .261 and his home run total to 11.

With his recent stretch, the argument can be made for Boone to give him back the leadoff spot. For what it’s worth, Volpe has been hitting in the bottom of the order, most recently in the seven and nine spots.

What’s stopping Boone from sending him back to the top?

Since trying several players in the Yankees’ troublesome leadoff spot, Boone handed it to Alex Verdugo. Verdugo also went through a hot stretch and found himself right at home in the leadoff spot. Unfortunately, Verdugo’s hot bat cooled off significantly. In his last 15 games, Verdugo is hitting .203 with no home runs. On the season, Verdugo is slashing .233/.291/660 with 10 HR.

Verdugo has had his moments, but with the resurgence of Anthony Volpe, it doesn’t make much sense to have Volpe in the bottom of the order. If Volpe had this stretch in the leadoff spot, we might have seen many more RBIs from the bats of Soto, Judge, and Austin Wells who is coming alive in the clean-up spot. Not to mention, Volpe would have had more chances to hit.

With Volpe on the uptrend, he is looking more and more like the leadoff hitter Boone had envisioned earlier in the year.