New York Yankees shortstop Anthony Volpe has continued to receive strong backing from manager Aaron Boone despite ongoing questions surrounding his role. With Volpe and Jose Caballero competing for playing time, Boone explained why the team has not considered moving Volpe to second base to create more flexibility.
“He’s been our shortstop, and he got hurt and had surgery over the winter. He’s coming back, and we really haven’t had — until Cabby walked in the door last year — a real competition-based thing there,” manager Aaron Boone said during interview with MLB analyst Chris Kirschner.
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“By the way, he’s been a damn good shortstop. I hate to break it to everyone, but that still is real. Has he had his struggles? Sure. But he’s also played really well out there in some long stretches defensively.”
Pointing to Anthony Volpe’s history at shortstop, Boone defended his overall performance while also acknowledging his struggles defensively.
Boone’s continued support of Volpe has drawn a strong reaction from Yankees fans, with many taking to social media to criticize the manager’s stance and question his handling of the position battle.
“Boone exists to gaslight the fan base. This is beyond frustrating.”
“This team is never going to win with Aaron Boone.”
“Its one of 2 things with Boone: He either LEGITIMATELY thinks Volpe is a good shortshop or he just loves to gaslight the journalists and fans.”
“Wtf 🤬 nah im done with Boone ! Volpe hasn’t played well 2 years and is getting worse every year tf man this guy has no balls.”
“He f***ing sucks!!! He is a bad baseball player!! Stop f***ing sugar coding it!”
“That doesn’t make him an MLB quality shortstop though…”
Aaron Boone further praised Anthony Volpe’s mentality amid the criticism surrounding his recent performances, saying the young shortstop has handled everything well. Boone described Volpe as a “tough kid” who loves the game and plays hard every day, adding that he wished those qualities were recognized more often.
Anthony Volpe shuts down rumor after Michael Kay’s retraction
New York Yankees shortstop Anthony Volpe strongly denied a rumor that claimed he refused to play second base, calling it “B.S.” and saying it could not have been further from the truth. The 25-year-old said he would do “literally anything” to help the team win and found it frustrating to defend himself over something he insisted never happened.
“It definitely caught me off guard. It’s confusing, just because it’s not true. It couldn’t be further from the truth, and from my end, from my perspective, that’s been very clearly communicated to [Aaron Boone] and the team. I think it’s just kind of B.S., honestly,” Anthony Volpe said.
The rumor originated from comments made by YES Network broadcaster Michael Kay, who later retracted the claim after confirming it was inaccurate and said he planned to apologize to Volpe.
Manager Aaron Boone also backed his shortstop, describing Volpe as a team-first player whose character and willingness to do whatever is best for the club are beyond question.
Edited by Safeer M S