Aaron Boone wanted to get as many left-handed hitters in Sunday night’s lineup as possible against Boston right-hander Brayan Bello and Anthony Volpe was among those that started the game on the bench.
But Volpe’s issues at the plate are bigger than having him avoid a tough righty.
The rookie shortstop entered Sunday with just one hit in his previous 13 at-bats, with his batting average down to .187, the lowest it had been since he was at .186 on April 15.
Not surprisingly, Aaron Boone praised Volpe’s overall play — and power, in particular — but his lack of production could become an issue.
Volpe’s OPS of .608 is the worst it’s been since the opening week of the season, and with Aaron Judge out of the lineup with a sprained toe and the Yankees also without Harrison Bader (right hamstring) and Anthony Rizzo slumping, the lineup doesn’t have much margin for error.
Boone remains confident the 22-year-old isn’t letting the rough time at the plate get to him.
“I do think he’s very much equipped to deal and handle it all in a lot of ways,’’ Boone said. “Even in his minor league career, for all the success he had, he struggled, too, along the way. It’s all part of this game, even for great players, dealing with ups and downs you inevitably face.”
To Boone’s point, Volpe got off to a rough start at Double-A Somerset, hitting just .183 with a .643 OPS in his first 38 games, along with 41 strikeouts in 171 plate appearances.
But he bounced back, hitting .333 with a .929 OPS over his next 18 games, as Volpe figured out Double-A pitching after splitting the previous season between Low-A Tampa and High-A Hudson Valley.
Volpe finished the season with 22 games at Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre before showing the Yankees enough during the spring to win the starting job at short.
Boone, general manager Brian Cashman and owner Hal Steinbrenner have preached patience with Volpe, and on Sunday, Boone focused on the impact Volpe’s bat has had on the Yankees’ success this year.
“I look at it as he’s still productive,’’ Boone said. “He has nine homers [and] a lot of big hits. He’s done a lot of big things, a lot of winning things. Even if he’s hitting under .200, offensively speaking, he’s been in the middle of a lot of winning games. While he’s taken his lumps and had his struggles, he’s also had some massive successes.”
Boone added Volpe is on pace for more than 20 home runs and said he has the “aptitude” to overcome the adversity.
“He’ll eventually get better and better at plugging holes [in his game] and make adjustments,’’ Boone said. “That’s who he is. I’m confident he’ll do that.”
The most logical replacement, if the Yankees decided to make a move at short, would be to call up Oswald Peraza from SWB, but Peraza was just 6-for-32 in a dozen games with the Yankees this season following a promising 2022. And although Peraza has a .980 OPS in 22 games with SWB this season, he’s cooled down recently.
Credit: Source link
