Anthony Volpe spent years carrying the burden that comes with wearing pinstripes and being treated like the next big Yankee. The hype was enormous, the expectations were unfairly huge, and the criticism came fast and hard when his play didn’t match the billing.
But after the Yankees were swept by the Tampa Bay Rays in the ALDS, Volpe was the one player who sounded done with all of it.
"This is my fourth season, it's been far too many times having this taste in your mouth. At this point I don't even think motivated is the right word.
I think it's just pissed off. There's too many chips added to your shoulder that it feels like enough's enough," Volpe said following the crushing defeat.
That kind of bluntness stood out because so many of his teammates were praising Aaron Boone and trying to move past another October flop. Volpe didn’t soften it.
He didn’t hide from it. He said what Yankees fans were probably feeling.
And to his credit, he backed that attitude up with his bat in the limited chances he got.
Across two games, Volpe went 3-for-7 with two singles, a double, a run scored and an RBI. Quietly, that was one of the better postseason lines on a team that didn’t hit nearly enough.
Game 3 was the clearest example. Volpe hustled out an infield single in the fourth inning, then came around to score the Yankees’ second run and tie the game at 2-2. Later, he nearly delivered the swing that would have flipped the night completely, coming just short of a game-tying homer before settling for an RBI double instead.
The Yankees, though, didn’t do enough around him. The sweep was ugly, and the offense was as bad as the numbers say: .130 BA, .192 OBP, .239 SLG and .431 OPS. Those are the club’s lowest marks in any multi-game postseason series in franchise history.
Ben Rice and, to a certain extent, Austin Wells were the only hitters who really showed up. Volpe wasn’t far behind them.
That matters because a few months ago, it looked like the Yankees had already moved on from him after promoting George Lombard Jr. and sending Volpe down to Scranton. Now, that picture looks less settled.
Two games won’t erase four seasons of inconsistency. One angry quote won’t fix a career. But the combination of Volpe’s tone after the elimination and the way he played in Game 3 at least gives the Yankees something to think about.
They’ll also have an opening. It would be crazy to see Jazz Chisholm Jr. come back this offseason, especially after he did and said all the wrong things.
That leaves second base available. The job won’t be handed to Volpe, but if he earns it in a competition and keeps using this latest disappointment as fuel, he could still turn this into a real reset.
In Other News...
MLB Just Weighed In On The Anthony Volpe Play Yankees Fans Hated
The season-ending loss at Yankee Stadium has taken another turn, this time with Major League Baseball stepping in on the controversial play that had Yankees fans fuming. In the middle of New Yorks defeat to the Rays, Anthony Volpe drove a fly ball that briefly looked like it might leave the yard before a fan reached over the fence and pulled it back into the field of play, turning a potential home run into a double after review.
MLB determined the fan interfered with the ball and the person was ejected from the ballpark, adding an ugly postscript to a frustrating night for the Yankees. The Rays still finished off the win and completed the best-of-five sweep, 3-0, leaving New York with one more reminder of how quickly a playoff game can swing on a single moment. [Read more 🡒]
Yankees Just Got Hit With A Brutal Post-ALDS Question
The Yankees ALDS exit has already opened the door to the sort of uncomfortable postseason autopsy that follows this club when October ends early. David Ortiz weighed in on the loss to the Rays and pointed to something bigger than a bad series, saying the Yankees are missing the culture that used to help define their success. He framed it as a matter of clubhouse leadership and attention to detail, two things that once felt baked into the organization and now sound more like a standard the current group is trying to reclaim.
Alex Rodriguez added another layer to the discussion by highlighting the gap between New Yorks high payroll and Tampa Bays ability to keep winning with far less money. It is the kind of comparison that stings because it goes beyond one matchup and gets at the larger question hanging over the Yankees: if the resources are there, why does the on-field result still look so familiar in October? [Read more 🡒]
Anthony Volpe Gave Yankees A Spark Before A Play Fans Will Debate
Anthony Volpe got the Yankees moving in Game 3 after being inserted into the lineup, and he immediately made his presence felt by helping tie the game with a run scored on a double. For a club that needed a lift, his energy and aggressiveness were exactly the kind of spark Aaron Boone was looking for when he turned to him in a bigger spot.
Volpe then found himself at the center of the nights most talked-about play, driving a long fly ball that was impacted by fan interference and kept from becoming a potential home run. The umpires ruled that a run would score because of the interference, giving the Yankees an extra tally and leaving fans to sort through what they saw, what the call meant and how much it changed the game. [Read more 🡒]