Anthony Volpe’s Gold Glove Grit: Can He Find His Bat?

Introduction

Anthony Volpe is a polarizing character for Yankee fans. The 24 year-old kid from New Jersey appealed to Yankees fas as he grew up as one of us. The Yankees hoped that he would be the shortstop of the future, passing up on names like Corey Seager to fill the void left by moving Gleyber Torres to second and IKF around the field due to defensive woes.

Ironically, the biggest question the Yankees had for Volpe at the major league level was never his bat, but his defense, and boy were they wrong. Though his batting average improved in 2024 from .209 in 2023 to .243 in 2024, the strikeouts were up and the slugging and power numbers went down. The on base percentage has been low throughout his career, which is concerning because Volpe is blessed with tremendous speed.

The main question the Yankees and Yankee fans have about Volpe is: Can Volpe’s third year be the breakout where his bat catches up to his glove?

Defensive Wizardry: The Foundation of Volpe’s Game

Anthony Volpe has been excellent defensively, going back his debut in 2023. At the end of the 2023 season, he won his first Gold Glove. 2024, his solid defense continued, making impressive plays, but the simpler players sometimes got the better of him.

Over last weekend in Tampa, Volpe made this spectacular play, robbing Curtas Mead of a base hit, and turning it into an out to leadoff an inning.

This play shows off just how great his range is at short, though the throw was low, he was able to take what could have been a leadoff single, into a really quick out in a game that ended up being a 1-0 Yankees win.

Anthony Volpe also has a new Double Play partner up the middle in 2025. The Yankees acquired infielder Jazz Chisholm Jr. at the 2024 trade deadline and had him playing third down the stretch and into the postseason. With the departure of Gleyber Torres this past offseason, Chisholm moved back to his more comfortable second base. Watching Volpe and Jazz turn double plays has been awesome so far as they both make such tremendous and athletic plays that change the course of games.

Yankees manager Aaron Boone praises Volpe’s defense at a high level saying “He’s our anchor up the middle, night in and night out.”

The Offensive Puzzle: Where Volpe Has Struggled

Anthony Volpe’s offense, thus far, in his career has not been great. While his batting average jumped up from .209 in 2023 to .243 in 2024. .243 is still not at the level that it should be at this point in his career.

One of the biggest problems I cite with Volpe’s offensive production is the high strikeout rate. In 2024, Volpe had a strikeout rate of 27.8%. That is way too high for a player that has the tools Volpe has.

So far in 2025, Volpe is batting .209 with 27 strikeouts in 24 games. His OBP is up so far, but is still below league average at .310. I feel like Volpe is always up with runners in scoring position and never comes through.

Over the past week and a half, his strikeouts have been WAY up and it feels like every time he gets a high fastball, he swings through it and looks overmatched. All you need to do is throw high fastballs and you can get an easy out. He, still, has a high chase rate on breaking pitches as we saw in the Cleveland series. If I had an at-bat that could summarize Volpe’s 2025 season so far, it’s the one on April 22nd against reliever Hunter Gaddis where he struck out on a slider in the other batters box.

The biggest issue with this is the fact that Volpe is consistently hitting sixth in the lineup without the production of Juan Soto and is coming up with a chance to drive in runs and can’t come through. In the series finally against the Guardians on April 23rd, Volpe struck out four times (0-5 overall), but most notably, in the first inning with runners on second and third with 1 out, all he had to do was put the ball in play and he gets an RBI, and he strikes out swinging on four pitches.

If Volpe was hitting eight or ninth in the lineup, this would not be highlighted as much as it is now, but it seems to be every game that he comes up with a chance to drive in runs and he has been very unproductive in doing so.

I’ve noticed since spring training that it looks like he is constantly trying to hit homers and get the power numbers up in 2025, but given is offensive profile so far in his young MLB career, this seems like he should be trying to be more of a singles/doubles hitter and use his speed to his advantage.

According to the statcast data provided, his baserunning value is in the 80th percentile, which is rated above average. With the barrel rate, exit velocity and bat speed all up, Volpe should be focusing on trying to square balls up and drive them to all fields and be an on-base menace.

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The Chisholm Connection: A Dynamic Double-Play Duo

I mentioned earlier in the article the friendship Jazz Chisholm Jr. and Anthony Volpe developed when Chisholm came over. These two are such a vibe. First of all, up the middle, these two could be one of the best defensive combinations in the American League. watching them turn double plays together is like a symphony.

So far, these two are making the plays they have to make defensively., but both have had similar struggles offensively. The gloves for these two so far have been so good, it keeps them in the lineup.

On that double play combo, Chisholm said:

(Via MLB.com)

“And I think we’re probably going to turn the most double plays in the league too,”

Off the field, it seems these two opposite personalities attracted to become buddies. Volpe, who is known as a quiet, kind of boring person and Jazz who is known as more of an outgoing character have found friendship in each other. We always see pictures of these two together during practice and just having a great time.

When talking about his relationship with Volpe during spring training, Chisholm said:

(Via MLB.com)

“Off the field, we’re both goofy and kids at heart -- we just want to have fun and enjoy life. Soccer [video games], he’s really good. In basketball, probably ‘MLB The Show’ too, I’ve got him. We’re basically the same guy.”

It seems like these two just enjoy being around each other. In fact, it was reported during Spring Training that Anthony Volpe’s father purchased a Topps Baseball card as a gift for Jazz, showing that their friendship goes beyond baseball, but into real life.

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The Road Ahead: Can Volpe Become a Complete Player?

Based on his current trends, so far, in 2025, Anthony Volpe is on pace for a .237 BA with 16 HRs, 66 RBIs and 70 runs scored. That is a solid regression from last season in all categories. For a player the Yankees who are relying on so heavily, these numbers are simply not good enough.

The 2025 yankees have started the season with a 15-10 record, and hold the lead in the AL East and the AL’s second-best record heading into play on Thursday, an off day for the Bombers. The Yankees are a team that is in major win-now mode and have as good of a chance as any to make it back to and hopefully win the World Series in 2025, and a big part of that is Anthony Volpe being a consistent offensive threat in the lineup as the 2025 season progresses.

There is still time to make an adjustment in his mechanics at the pate and have a more productive season, but the changes need to come soon. The Yankee offense has been having issues with runners in scoring position over the past few days, and Volpe’s lack of offense is certainly contributing to this. If he makes an adjustment and becomes a league-average offensive hitter, combined with his defense, I think the Yankees would take that in a heartbeat.