CLEVELAND — Aaron Boone had just gone out of his way to defend Anthony Volpe, calling his shortstop’s recent defense excellent. The timing could not have been worse. Within 24 hours, Volpe delivered a play that undercut the praise, handing his manager an instant and uncomfortable reality check.
The sequence reignited a debate the Yankees cannot seem to escape, one about whether their former top prospect deserves the playing time he keeps receiving at one of baseball’s most important positions.
The praise that aged poorly
Before the Yankees opened their series in Cleveland on Monday, Boone offered a glowing review of Volpe’s glove. The shortstop was out of the lineup that night, with Jose Caballero starting at short, but the manager wanted to make his stance clear.
Boone pointed to a strong stretch of defensive plays as evidence that the criticism was overblown. His endorsement was unequivocal.
“Excellent,” Boone said of Volpe’s defense. “He made an error the first day in Baltimore, and then I feel like he’s made half-a-dozen or so really outstanding plays.”
The comment was already on shaky ground. It came just a day after Volpe made a weak, inaccurate relay throw home against the Red Sox. And it came one day before a play that would make the praise look especially ill-timed.
The play that proved the point
Here is the moment that flipped the narrative. In the third inning of Tuesday’s 3-2 Yankees win over the Guardians, a sharp ground ball off the bat of Chase DeLauter ate Volpe up at shortstop.
Caught in between on the hop, Volpe failed to knock the ball down and tripped himself up in the process. The misplay allowed Jose Ramirez to score from second base, charging Gerrit Cole with a run during a labored third inning. Boone, to his credit, did not duck the difficulty of the play afterward, framing it as a hard chance.
“Bullet, tweener,” Boone said. “With a man on second there, one you want to try and body up if you can, but a rocket. Tough play.”
In fairness to Volpe, DeLauter struck the ball at 96.6 mph with an expected batting average of .650, so it was no routine grounder. Caballero had been charged with an error on a similar play the night before, though he at least made contact with the ball. Still, the timing was brutal for Boone’s argument.
The bat offered no relief
If the defense undercut Boone’s praise, Volpe’s offense did nothing to help his case. The struggles at the plate continued in Cleveland, deepening the concern for the Yankees.
Volpe went 0-for-4 with two strikeouts on Tuesday, dropping his average to a dismal .190 with a .587 OPS. The bigger picture is even harsher. Since his 2023 debut, Volpe ranks near the bottom among the 37 qualified shortstops in baseball, sitting 34th in batting average, 34th in on-base percentage, and 29th in both OPS and wRC+. For a player getting everyday at-bats, the production has been hard to justify.
The Caballero question grows louder
All of this fuels the central tension for the Yankees. Volpe keeps getting the majority of the starts at shortstop, even though Caballero may be the better option right now. The numbers behind the decision are striking.
Since Caballero returned from a fractured finger on May 22, Volpe has made 10 starts at shortstop to Caballero’s five. That is notable because Caballero was one of the best defensive shortstops in baseball before the injury, ranking third at the position with five Defensive Runs Saved. The Yankees thought so highly of him that they optioned Volpe when he completed his rehab from shoulder surgery on May 3. Now, with Aaron Judge and Jasson Dominguez injured, Caballero has been bounced around to the outfield and third base, even though the Yankees have other options at those spots.
Why the Yankees keep choosing Volpe
The loyalty is not entirely surprising given the history. The Yankees have consistently backed Volpe through three below-average offensive seasons and a rough 2025 defensive campaign that he played through with a torn labrum.
Boone has even argued that Volpe’s 2025 defensive woes amounted to just three or four weeks that happened to coincide with a losing stretch, though the shortstop finished that year with 19 errors, minus-7 Outs Above Average, and a minus-5 Fielding Run Value. The Yankees now have a real alternative, and a third name may soon enter the picture. Top prospect George Lombard Jr., regarded as perhaps the slickest defender of the group, has heated up at Triple-A and could debut this season. For now, though, Boone frames the choice as a day-to-day call between Volpe and Caballero. He insists he trusts both.
“I’ve got a ton of confidence in both of them and their ability to play at a high level out there,” Boone said a day before.
The problem is that his actions and his words keep diverging. Boone praises both, yet leans heavily on Volpe, and Tuesday offered a vivid reminder of why so many Yankees fans question that call. The Yankees improved to 40-26 and will chase a sweep Wednesday in Cleveland, but the shortstop debate is not going anywhere.
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