Anthony Volpe's Batting Slump Is Playing Him Out of Yankees' Future Plans

Both sides could use a fresh start as the 25-year-old's offensive struggles continue.

Anthony Volpe isn't producing much at the plate, which is spelling disaster for his outlook with the Yankees. | David Richard-Imagn Images

It wasn't that long ago when Anthony Volpe seemed like the Yankees' shortstop of the future. Being a 2019 first-rounder who's also a New York native seemed to set Volpe up for a bright future in the Bronx, especially if he could reach the potential that the Yankees brass seemed to see in him.

Fast forward to the 2026 MLB campaign, and Volpe has become more of a headache than a building block for the future. The former Gold Glove winner started the season hurt and in the minors before eventually being called up to the big leagues in May. There was a brief stretch where it looked like Volpe found his groove in the batter's box, but that quickly became undone in the last few weeks.

Each passing game makes it tougher to imagine Volpe remaining with the Yankees for the long haul. Assuming that there's no end in sight, especially given how things have recently unfolded, it's fair to wonder if the 25-year-old infielder's time in the Big Apple is nearing an end.

Anthony Volpe's ongoing skid is bad news for his Yankees outlook

Yankees fans had some concerns about Volpe's reliability as a batter dating back to the 2025 season. Even though he generated a career-high 19 home runs and 72 RBIs in 153 games (539 at-bats), his .212/.272/.391 slash line left much to be desired. His 1.3 offensive WAR was also much lower than the 2.9 he recorded in 2024, and even worse than his rookie performance (1.7).

Anthony Volpe's offensive struggles have carried over from the 2025 campaign into the current season. | Wendell Cruz-Imagn Images

As he rehabbed in the minors after offseason shoulder surgery, Volpe's bat remained a concern. He slashed .205/.238/.333 with one home run and five RBIs across nine games (39 ABS) with Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre until he was eventually called up by the Yankees to fill in for José Caballero, who landed on the injured list in May with a fractured finger.

After a few games with the Yankees, Volpe started to show glimmers of his perceived potential. He batted .297 with a .825 OPS from May 17-31, racking up eight RBIs, four stolen bases, four walks, and a home run in 37 ABs over 10 games. As promising as that brief sample size was, it didn't take long for old habits to rear their head.

In his first seven June appearances, Volpe has recorded a putrid .083/.154/.125 slash line across 24 ABs. He only has two hits and three total bases during that stretch, having drawn two walks while striking out five times. That's without mentioning a 21% hard-hit rate and an 82.2 mph average exit velocity, per Baseball Savant, which really drives home the lack of promise he's showing lately.

Anthony Volpe's slump is limiting the potential of Yankees manager Aaron Boone's lineup, making it clear that a change is needed. | Nathan Ray Seebeck-Imagn Images

Despite those inconsistencies, Yankees manager Aaron Boone continues to throw Volpe into the starting lineup at Caballero's expense. Despite the latter producing better results at shortstop than Volpe, he has only played there twice in the last nine games, mostly playing a combination of right field and second/third base instead.

Time to turn the page

It's becoming clear that Volpe is who he is at this point, and the Yankees need to realize that he isn't their long-term shortstop solution. Caballero might not be either, but he's at least given New York consistent performances on both sides of the ball, which will be crucial as the club guns for its first World Series title since 2009.

The MLB trade deadline is on Aug. 3 this year, so it'll be interesting to see if general manager Brian Cashman decides to shop Volpe before then. Although the results haven't been there this season, it isn't unfathomable that the Yankees could find a potential trade partner who still believes better days are ahead for Volpe due to his age and draft pedigree.

Can the Yankees find a potential trade partner willing to give Anthony Volpe a fresh start before August's deadline? | Vincent Carchietta-Imagn Images

A trade could be seen as New York waving the white flag, but it's better to admit defeat and turn the page rather than continue with another example of a sunk cost fallacy.

Volpe's bat does more harm than good whenever it's in the lineup, and it's not like his defense—once his calling card—has been that impressive, as he sits at a .976 fielding percentage with two errors committed over 172 1/3 innings at shortstop. This performance comes one year after he finished tied with the Red Sox's Trevor Story for an American League-leading 19 errors.

Turning the page on Volpe is an even more attractive idea when the Yankees already have a backup plan. Top prospect George Lombard Jr. is developing nicely, and it was only earlier this week that MLB Network insider Joel Sherman theorized that the 21-year-old up-and-comer could be the Yankees' starting shortstop by August.

"It's not out of the question that George Lombard is the SS on August 1st."

Pinstripe Post with @JoelSherman1.

YouTube ➡️ https://t.co/BcG4DLDq7q pic.twitter.com/PSIkGxuqEX

— New York Post Sports (@nypostsports) June 9, 2026

Lombard still needs to show more offensive improvement before getting called up, but the potential is there. He's batting .257 with a .715 OPS through his first 10 June appearances, and while that isn't a mind-blowing performance, it's a huge improvement over the .192 batting average and .649 OPS he recorded in May. Lombard's continued improvement will only give the Yankees more reason to shake things up.

With Lombard rising and Volpe free-falling, it's becoming obvious that the latter is running out of time in the Bronx. The Yankees need difference-making players who rise to the occasion to help with the World Series quest, and it's increasingly clear that Volpe isn't one of those players. He needs a fresh start to salvage his potential, making a possible split mutually beneficial.

It's unfortunate that things couldn't work out better for the Yankees and the hometown kid, but that's baseball.