TORONTO — Anthony Volpe has regressed defensively this year.
The New York Yankees’ shortstop entered Monday’s game against the Toronto Blue Jays with zero outs above average, tied for 19th among 35 qualified shortstops this season. In his rookie year, Volpe won the American League Gold Glove Award. Last year, he was a finalist. This year, Volpe leads all American League players with 11 errors.
Volpe made two questionable defensive decisions in the sixth inning of New York’s 5-4 loss to the Blue Jays. With no outs, a runner on second and the Yankees up 3-1, Toronto center fielder Myles Straw hit a groundball to Volpe in the hole. Volpe ranged to his right, fielded the ball and fired it past Yankees third baseman Jazz Chisholm Jr., allowing Straw to take second on the throwing error.
The Blue Jays scored on a single in the next at-bat, cutting the Yankees’ lead to 3-2. Instead of standing on second base, Straw was now 90 feet away from being the tying run because of Volpe’s poor throw. Replay showed Volpe had no shot of making the play at third base, and yet he and Yankees manager Aaron Boone had no issue with the play that allowed a free advancement for the Blue Jays.
“There’s some plays that you’re going to be aggressive,” Volpe said. “I’m going to go for that play every single time. Ball gets knocked down and it’s not an error. I expect to make that play, whether it’s in the book or not.”
But Chisholm did not have an opportunity to knock Volpe’s throw down. He would have had to make a Superman-like leap over Davis Schneider, who was running to third base, to have even a remote chance to make an unbelievable tag for the out.
“I don’t have a problem going to third there because there’s obviously no play in that situation to first, but we just got to be accurate with the ball,” Boone said.
Volpe could have held the ball to not allow Straw to advance into scoring position, so it is bizarre that both parties would not second-guess the decision to throw the ball. A few batters later, Volpe made another throw that he shouldn’t have attempted.
Blue Jays shortstop Ernie Clement hit a grounder in the hole to Volpe and legged out an infield single. Volpe tried making a cross-body throw to get Clement at first, but Clement beat the throw easily. By throwing to first, Nathan Lukes, who was at second base, advanced to third.
Volpe had no regrets with his decision to try to throw Clement out at first, either, despite him being safe by roughly 10 feet.
“Not at all,” Volpe said when asked if he second-guessed himself. “You got to make that play on that ball.”
Boone added: “That’s a play that a shortstop is typically going to try and make. Obviously, Clement runs pretty well. (From) my vantage point, I felt like he wasn’t going to have a play.”
Two batters later, Vladimir Guerrero Jr. ripped a two-run single to give the Blue Jays a 5-3 lead. It’s impossible to know how different the inning could have looked for the Yankees if Volpe had made two smarter defensive decisions.
Last week in Cincinnati, Boone was asked about Volpe’s regression defensively this season. He stuck up for his shortstop and downplayed any step back defensively that the stats say Volpe has made.
“I would say he’s made two or three more errors than his normal trajectory,” Boone said. “It’s two or three plays. I still think he’s having a very good overall defensive season. In ’23, he won the Gold Glove. Last year, he was probably right there with whoever. I expect when the dust settles this year, he’ll be right in that conversation as well. He’s made a couple more than he would like and we would like, but he also makes a lot of plays that a lot of people don’t.”
Volpe’s regression defensively this year is concerning. Defense has been his calling card since getting to the majors three years ago. He’s struggling at the plate and has graded out negatively on the bases, according to FanGraphs. The way for him to increase his value, especially at a prime position, is to be better defensively. But right now, the stats and the tape show he’s been a middling defender.
(Photo: Vincent Carchietta / Imagn Images)
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