NEW YORK (AP) — Yankees shortstop Anthony Volpe was benched Sunday night for the finale of a critical four-game series against the rival Boston Red Sox.
Volpe is mired in a 1-for-28 slump and leads the majors with 17 errors. New York started recently acquired utlityman Jose Caballero at shortstop as the team tried to prevent a four-game sweep.
Volpe was hitting .208 with 18 homers and 65 RBIs in 128 games this season. He has started 125 at shortstop and was not in the starting lineup for only the fifth time all year.
“Just scuffling a little bit offensively here over the last 10 days, (and) having Caballero,” manager Aaron Boone explained. “Cabby gives you that real utility presence that can go play anywhere.”
Volpe did not start for the second time in eight days. After going 0 for 9 in the first two games at St. Louis, he sat out the series finale last Sunday.
He went hitless in 10 at-bats over the first three games against the Red Sox. During a 12-1 loss on Saturday, he had a sacrifice bunt and committed a throwing error on a grounder by David Hamilton during Boston’s seventh-run ninth inning.
The 24-year-old Volpe batted .249 through his first 69 games. But since June 14, he is hitting .153 — and some Yankees fans have been clamoring for the team to sit him down.
Volpe won a Gold Glove as a rookie in 2023 and hit .209 with 21 homers and 60 RBIs. He batted .243 with 12 homers last season when New York won its first AL pennant since 2009.
In the postseason, Volpe batted .286, including a grand slam in Game 4 of the World Series against the Los Angeles Dodgers.
“I think he handles it quite well,” Boone said about Volpe’s struggles. “I don’t think he’s overly affected by those things. Just a young player that works his tail off and is super competitive and is trying to find that next level in his game offensively. I think he’s mentally very tough and totally wired to handle all of the things that go with being a big leaguer in this city and being a young big leaguer that’s got a lot of expectations on him.”
Acquired from Tampa Bay at the July 31 trade deadline, the speedy Caballero was hitting .320 in 14 games with the Yankees and .235 overall. Besides shortstop, Caballero has started at second base, third base and right field.
New York began the night six games behind first-place Toronto in the AL East and 1 1/2 back of second-place Boston. The Yankees, Red Sox and Mariners are tightly bunched in a race for the three American League wild cards.
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