{"id":93037,"date":"2025-09-14T22:12:56","date_gmt":"2025-09-14T22:12:56","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sportnews.azontree.com\/?p=93037"},"modified":"2025-09-14T22:12:56","modified_gmt":"2025-09-14T22:12:56","slug":"yankees-at-crossroads-with-shortstop-position-major-decision-loom","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sportnews.azontree.com\/?p=93037","title":{"rendered":"Yankees at Crossroads With Shortstop Position Major Decision Loom"},"content":{"rendered":"<div id=\"post-featured-container-id\">\n<div id=\"post-featured\">\n<figure><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/heavy.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/Heavy-Thumbnail_20250914_144127_0000.png?w=780\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 820px) 95vw, 780px\" srcset=\"https:\/\/heavy.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/Heavy-Thumbnail_20250914_144127_0000.png?w=780 780w, https:\/\/heavy.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/Heavy-Thumbnail_20250914_144127_0000.png?w=1100&amp;quality=15&amp;strip=all 1100w, https:\/\/heavy.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/Heavy-Thumbnail_20250914_144127_0000.png?w=1350&amp;quality=35&amp;strip=all 1350w\" alt=\"Yankees Face Big Decision on Shortstop\u2019s Future\" width=\"780\" height=\"439\" \/><\/figure>\n<p>Getty<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p>The New York Yankees have stood firmly behind Anthony Volpe as their shortstop, but his third season has only deepened the questions about whether he truly is the long-term answer at the position. Volpe has battled both poor performance and a shoulder injury that required a cortisone injection this week, raising concerns about his future as the club\u2019s everyday shortstop.<\/p>\n<hr \/>\n<h2>A Season of Decline<\/h2>\n<p>Volpe entered the weekend leading the American League in errors while hitting just .206, a combination that has drawn increasing frustration from Yankees fans. His once-elite defense has fallen apart in 2025, surprising many after he won a Gold Glove as a rookie and followed with another strong defensive campaign in his second year. This season, however, he has graded out as a negative defender for the first time, ranking near the bottom among qualified shortstops with just 0.6 fWAR, according to FanGraphs.<\/p>\n<p>The Athletic\u2019s Chris Kirschner reported that Volpe has played through a partially torn labrum in his left shoulder, an \u201cold injury\u201d that the Yankees\u2019 medical staff does not currently expect to require surgery. Manager Aaron Boone revealed that the injury has lingered for most of the year, forcing the 24-year-old to receive multiple cortisone injections. That revelation has cast new light on Volpe\u2019s throwing issues and his struggles to handle routine plays.<\/p>\n<p>General manager Brian Cashman acknowledged the possibility that the injury has affected Volpe\u2019s game but also called it a \u201cgray area.\u201d He noted that while internal metrics show Volpe still hits the ball well, the results haven\u2019t translated into clean plays. \u201cWho knows how much that shoulder has been a part of that process,\u201d Cashman said at Fenway Park. \u201cI\u2019m sure it\u2019s watered down him on the offensive and defensive side.\u201d<\/p>\n<hr \/>\n<h2>The Yankees\u2019 Dilemma<\/h2>\n<p>Despite the decline, both Cashman and Boone continue to publicly support Volpe. Boone benched him against the Red Sox following his injection, starting Jos\u00e9 Caballero in his place, but stopped short of saying Caballero could overtake him. The Yankees manager instead hinted that Volpe could rebound as soon as the postseason, pointing to his strong October performance in 2024, when he posted a 138 wRC+.<\/p>\n<p>Cashman was even more direct when asked about Volpe\u2019s future, telling reporters he still believes in the former top prospect\u2019s long-term potential. \u201cI think he\u2019s someone that we can count on and we believe in,\u201d Cashman said. \u201cThis isn\u2019t the season that we expected or he expected, but that doesn\u2019t change our viewpoint of what he\u2019s capable of. I think he\u2019s a really talented guy, and I think he has a chance to be a positive impact on us.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>That confidence, however, is built more on projection than production. Through three full seasons, Volpe has struggled to establish himself as a consistent offensive player, never hitting above .233 for a season and now fighting through one of the worst years of his young career.<\/p>\n<p>Still, the Yankees have shown no inclination to replace him. Cashman and Boone have repeatedly used words like \u201ctalented,\u201d \u201cyoung,\u201d and \u201ccapable\u201d when defending him, even as the evidence has mounted against that optimism. For now, the organization views his shoulder injury and lack of consistency as hurdles he can still overcome.<\/p>\n<p>As the 2025 season winds down, the Yankees continue to bet on Volpe\u2019s potential despite lingering doubts at shortstop.<\/p>\n<p>Alvin Garcia Born in Puerto Rico, Alvin Garcia is a sports writer for Heavy.com who focuses on MLB. His work has appeared on FanSided, LWOS, NewsBreak, Athlon Sports, and Yardbarker, covering mostly MLB. More about Alvin Garcia<\/p>\n<h2>More Heavy on Yankees<\/h2>\n<p>Loading more stories<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Yankees shortstop Anthony Volpe battles injuries and poor play in 2025, leaving questions about his future despite Brian Cashman\u2019s support.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":6,"featured_media":93038,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-93037","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-mlb"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v23.6 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>Yankees at Crossroads With Shortstop Position Major Decision Loom - NEWS USA<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/sportnews.azontree.com\/?p=93037\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Yankees at Crossroads With Shortstop Position Major Decision Loom - 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