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By Ben Watanabe
Contributing Sports Writer
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Anthony Volpe's fall from grace has been tough to watch.
For one thing, the New York Yankees shortstop isn't even the team's full-time shortstop anymore. After starting an average of 150 games at the position for the past three years, Volpe this season has watched Jose Caballero take more than half the starts there. It's not that Volpe has gotten worse -- it's that, at age 25, he hasn't gotten any better.
And now the former Gold Glover is even having trouble with simple pop-ups.
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Volpe muffed an easy out that would have ended Monday's game against the Chicago White Sox. The Yankees were able to survive with a 9-5 win by bringing in closer David Bednar to shut the door, but the brutal error required extra work for Bednar and the Yankees defense that shouldn't have been necessary.
It's been that type of season -- or should we say, career -- for Volpe.
Despite his Gold Glove in 2023, Volpe has never been a particularly great defensive shortstop. His fielding percentage hovers around .970, which is fine but hardly elite, and last season he led his position in errors with 19.
Offensively, he's never been a factor. He's never batted as high as .250 or posted a league-average OPS+.
It's difficult to quantify just how much Volpe's failure to develop has hampered the Yankees. The team envisioned him as its next longtime shortstop, following in Derek Jeter's footsteps, and setting the table in front of Aaron Judge in the lineup. Instead, he has been average defensively and subpar at the plate. With him, the Yankees are still capable of being very good, but never great.
So dropping pop-ups isn't helping his cause. Yankees fans can only hope star prospect George Lombard Jr. is able to develop in a hurry.
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