New York Yankees manager Aaron Boone is under mounting scrutiny as Anthony Volpe‘s defensive miscues continue to pile up, and fans and analysts are increasingly questioning whether Boone‘s unwavering support is now doing more harm than good.
Volpe, once celebrated for his Gold Glove-winning defense as a rookie in 2023, now leads the American League with 15 errors, matching the most in all of baseball.
His .959 fielding percentage marks a career low and signals a sharp regression from his first two seasons.
A drop from impressive defensive metrics, like a +14 Outs Above Average in 2024 to 2 this year, underscores how far he has fallen from elite territory.
Offensively, Volpe has seen his production decline as well.
His season slash line hovers around a mediocre .216/.288/.409, with an OPS around .680, far below league average and failing to compensate for his deteriorating glove work.
Boone holding out hope for volpe
Despite this slide, Boone has repeatedly defended Volpe.
He insists the shortstop is still “a top shortstop,” attributing much of the criticism to “a few extra plays” that have generated outsized negative coverage.
Boone argued, “Errors get handed out in a lot of different places in a lot of different ways,” suggesting that not every mistake should land squarely on Volpe‘s shoulders.
Boone also referenced his own fielding struggles at USC, noting: “My message to him is: You’re really good at this … He’s a Gold Glove player … He’s made some mistakes on some balls he needs to nail down, but it happens to guys at different points in their career.”
He added, “I feel like his mental toughness and his wiring will get him through this”.
Midway through this season, Boone even sacrificed Volpe‘s bat in a pivotal Subway Series ninth inning, opting to pinch-hit Trent Grisham instead of Volpe, a rare demotion of confidence in the young shortstop’s offensive value.
Boone justified the move by predicting the matchup advantage, saying, “Knowing Garrett was going back out … I’d rather have a lefty facing him,” before softening the criticism: “He’s going through it a little bit right now. He’s got to keep working on it.”
In that moment, Volpe took an honest approach, telling the media: “The competitor in you wants to be out there and help the team … What is [in my control] is just putting in the work and earning those atbats. Earning every atbat.”
He admitted that his issues boiled down to timing, saying he had been “grinding, for sure.”
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