New York Yankees Gold Glove shortstop Anthony Volpe hasn’t played up to standard this season, leading to his demotion to Triple-A in August.
He had just a .647 OPS on the year through 56 games, and while his defensive numbers look solid, several important miscues saw the Yankees remove him from his position in favor of No. 1 prospect George Lombard Jr. Volpe has been hitting in the minors, recording a knock in each of his five appearances since returning to Triple-A, but his inconsistency showed in his first at-bat of the evening on Wednesday.
In a 3-0 count, Volpe — who batted leadoff — challenged a high offspeed pitch which the home plate umpire called a strike. Upon review, the pitch clipped the top of the zone and the Scranton/Wilkes-Barre RailRiders lost their first challenge.
Volpe continued the at-bat, and got called out on strikes before challenging the final pitch of the at-bat — a fastball. This pitch hit the lower-outside corner of the zone, meaning Volpe lost the RailRiders both of their challenges after just six pitches.
“He’s got a big smile on his face, I’m going to guess the other 27 guys on the team aren’t real happy right now,” RailRiders broadcaster Mike Zambelli said.
While Volpe has performed well in the minors so far, this incident is likely a bit of a setback in his return to MLB, especially with Lombard’s recent hot streak. The rookie shortstop has two homers through seven games, surpassing Volpe’s total for the season, and has a .953 OPS so far.
Is Anthony Volpe Done as a Yankee?
While this season’s performance doesn’t bode well for a 2026 return to MLB for Volpe, several offseason factors could find him returning to Yankee Stadium in the future.
Lombard likely has the shortstop job on lock for the foreseeable future, but current Yankees second baseman Jazz Chisholm Jr. is out of contract following the end of this season, and could open a spot for Volpe to remain in the middle infield. The Yankees are usually big spenders in free agency, though, and could look to fill that spot with a player like Luis Arraez, who will also be a free agent come season’s end.
Regardless, if Volpe continues to hit in the minors and continue to improve his discipline at the plate, he can still provide some value to the Yankees.