Aaron Boone was noticeably emotional in defending Anthony Volpe while on his weekly appearance with Talkin’ Yanks this week.
The Yankee manager fired back at the idea of sitting the shortstop, who is mired in a brutal offensive slump in his sophomore season. After a fast start to the year, Volpe has cooled down significantly, but Boone emphatically stood by the 23-year-old.
“Come on, man. This guy is a player,” Boone said. “You’re like, ‘Yeah, the defense is great, we acknowledge that.’ That’s enormous. He’s the best shortstop in the league, and he’s hitting like a league average of below league average hitter. Add it all up, he’s a winning player. Stop it.
“What if he goes out and has two good offensive weeks and is a .720 OPS and the best defender in the league? You got yourself a pretty damn good player right there.”
After posting an even .800 OPS through the first 56 games of the season, Volpe is batting just .215 with a .584 OPS in the 68 games since, and he has just four hits in his last 46 plate appearances. The lows have been painfully low at the plate, but Boone believes an uptick is coming, and given his Gold Glove defense at shortstop, he’ll live with some offensive funks.
“He’s gonna get there. It’s not linear. It’s not just shoot to the moon,” Boone said. “There’s definitely a case in there where I could have given him a day here and there. Absolutely. But to just not have him in the lineup, next question. Seriously, when you run the team, you can make that call.”