Yankees' Anthony Volpe Enters 'Death Spiral' as Offense Collapses
Newsweek AI is in beta. Translations may contain inaccuracies—please refer to the original content.
The New York Yankees' quest to once again win the American League East pennant and, ultimately, return to the World Series got off to a red-hot start. On May 28, the Bronx Bombers enjoyed what appeared to be a comfortable seven-game lead in the division, 15 games over .500 at 35-20.
By the time the All-Star break came around, the Yankees prognosis looked very different.
At 53-43 they now sit two games behind the first place Toronto Blue Jays with just one game separating them from the streaking Boston Red Sox below them in third.
NEW YORK, NY - MAY 22: Anthony Volpe #11 of the New York Yankees looks on during the game against the Texas Rangers at Yankee Stadium on May 22, 2025 in New York, New York....
NEW YORK, NY - MAY 22: Anthony Volpe #11 of the New York Yankees looks on during the game against the Texas Rangers at Yankee Stadium on May 22, 2025 in New York, New York. More
NewAccording to Fangraphs projections, on May 28 the Yankees had an MLB-best 98.1 percent chance to make the playoffs, as well as a 91.8 percent chance to win their division and a 15.9 percent shot at winning the World Series.
Now, at the All-Star break, the Yankees enjoy just a 9.1 percent chance at a World Series championship, according to Fangraphs, trailing five other MLB teams. Their chances of winning the American League East have been cut approximately in half, to 45.1 percent, with 88.5 percent odds of making the playoffs.
The reasons for the Yankees' mid-season swoon are complex, of course, but one of the most prominent weak links has been the organization's former No. 1 prospect. Now in his third year in the majors, 24-year-old shortstop Anthony Volpe — who according to longtime New York Post baseball columnist Joel Sherman is in a "death spiral" at the plate — has struggled in all facets.
"He doesn't go into slumps. He goes into death spirals," Sherman said, speaking on the "Pinstripe Post" podcast Tuesday. "It isn't like a week where he hits like .162. It's like a month."
More MLB: Yankees Draft Picks Turn Heads as Anthony Volpe Sees Career Crater
Volpe, the Yankees' first-round draft pick in 2019 out of Delbarton School in Morristown, N.J., started the season in respectable fashion, posting a .784 OPS with five home runs and a .237 batting average through his first 31 games in March and April.
But the bottom quickly fell out for the young shortstop. In his most recent 24 games, Volpe has managed just a .472 OPS with two home runs and a batting average of only .171.
Through a total of 95 games, not only has Volpe's OPS fallen to .671, his wRC+ — a measure of a player's overall run-creation value where the league average is set at 100 — is just 87.
In other words, Volpe has been 13 percent less productive that the average major league hitter.
"He's coming up in every big moment and literally killing them offensively," Sherman said on the podcast. "His approach with runners in scoring position has been brutal."
More MLB: MLB Insider Calls Streaking Red Sox 'Legitimate World Series Contenders'
With the glove, Volpe has not been much better. His 11 errors tie him for third-most at any position among all MLB players, and are the highest total of any AL shortstop. Volpe's Statcast Fielding Run Value is minus-2. That means his fielding has prevented two runs fewer than the average MLB shortstop.
"Not only just the offensive part, but the defensive part and now has now affected them in winning baseball games," Sherman added.
His fielding percentage of .966 ranks him 23rd of 25 qualifying shortstops, and his range factor, measuring runs prevented taking only fielding range into account, is also minus-2.
The decline in his fielding has been startling. Last season, according to Statcast numbers cited by The Athletic, Volpe ranked in top 97th percentile of all defensive players. But this year, the same figures place him all the way down in the 17th percentile.
More MLB: Yankees Shockingly Urged To Cut Ties With Gold Glove Shortstop
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