With Aaron Boone and Brian Cashman internet hosting a postmortem press convention at Yankee Stadium on Thursday, the Bombers’ surgically repaired shortstop dominated the dialog.
Anthony Volpe, who underwent a left shoulder arthroscopic labral process on Tuesday after enjoying with {a partially} torn labrum for many of the 2025 season, will miss the beginning of spring coaching and start the 2026 marketing campaign on the injured listing, Cashman stated. The final supervisor hopes to have Volpe again someday in April, although he talked about Might as a “worst-case scenario.”
“Somebody will be playing shortstop [that is] not him Opening Day, but that’s not a good thing for us either,” Cashman stated. “I think missing him and not having him here as an option for us, there’s a problem. I’m looking forward to getting a fixed Anthony Volpe back so he could be deployed and help us win games.”
Boone left the door ever so open for a quicker timeline ought to Volpe heal rapidly. Nonetheless, the Yankees supervisor stated that Volpe gained’t be capable to hit for 4 months, and he gained’t be capable to dive on his unhealthy shoulder for six months.
Volpe initially injured his non-throwing shoulder whereas diving for a ball on Might 3. Within the weeks and months that adopted, he was routinely noticed with giant wraps on his shoulder after video games. It wasn’t till Sept. 11 that Boone revealed Volpe had been enjoying with {a partially} torn labrum – among the harm predated the 2025 season – for months. He re-aggravated the harm on Sept. 7 and acquired a cortisone shot on Sept. 10, which stored him out of the lineup till Sept. 16.
Volpe additionally acquired a cortisone shot in the course of the All-Star break.
The 24-year-old first-round choose, now three years into his massive league profession, had one other subpar and streaky season on the plate, slashing .212/.272/.391 with 19 house runs, 72 RBI and an 83 wRC+ in the course of the common season earlier than including a .192 common, a .538 OPS, one homer, two RBI, zero walks and 16 strikeouts within the playoffs. He additionally noticed his Gold Glove-winning protection regress, as his 19 errors have been the fourth-most within the majors. Volpe additionally ended the season with -7 Outs Above Common, a -5 Fielding Run Worth and two Defensive Runs Saved.
With Volpe having to go underneath the knife, Boone stated he didn’t second-guess enjoying him in a team-leading 153 video games, even with the Yankees rostering a succesful different in José Caballero after the commerce deadline. Requested to clarify why, Boone stated surgical procedure wasn’t a certainty going into the winter, and he reiterated his perception that the harm didn’t have a huge effect on Volpe’s efficiency.
“I think, for the overwhelming majority of the year, it was not affecting his play,” Boone stated, although he acknowledged there have been occasions when Volpe would dive and worsen the harm. “In some ways, the injury probably got a little bit worse towards the end of the year based on a couple of episodes that happened, but I don’t think it was impacting performance.”
Nonetheless, Cashman stated that he “personally” now believes Volpe’s harm hindered him. Cashman didn’t really feel that means in the course of the season as a result of Volpe insisted he wasn’t bothered by the harm, bodily checks have been encouraging, and the cortisone pictures appeared to assist.
Cashman doesn’t assume Volpe misled the Yankees about his harm, however his operation, carried out by crew physician Christopher Ahmad, revealed “more severe” harm than MRIs initially indicated.
“They’re superhuman beings,” Cashman stated, including that the Yankees didn’t downplay the harm regardless of public options on the contrary. “The issues that hassle us bodily in an enormous means, I don’t assume these alpha canine, as an illustration, it bothers them as a lot. They don’t really feel issues as a lot. Possibly it’s adrenaline. Possibly it’s simply they’re so robust as oxes in so many alternative ways in which it doesn’t current itself to the purpose the place they gotta complain in a loud means.
“As the year goes on and he’s diving all over the place, irritating it maybe at times, it starts to move up the tree of wasn’t a concern and isn’t a concern to maybe it is a concern. It’s still speculative.”
Whether or not his harm factored in or not, Cashman was clear in saying that Volpe didn’t have the season the crew or the participant anticipated.
The identical might be stated of Volpe’s profession to this point, particularly offensively, as he owns a .222/.283/.379 slash line and an 85 wRC+ over 1,717 at-bats. Of the 103 gamers with at the least 1,500 at-bats since 2023, he ranks 103rd in common and on-base share; 102nd in OPS; one hundred and first in wRC+ and a hundredth in slugging share.
Whereas Boone famous that the infielder’s protection did return to kind over the past 6-8 weeks of the season – he’s proper about that – the skipper additionally admitted that the New York native’s bat has “gotta improve” if Volpe is to grow to be a “front-line shortstop.”
“He understands that,” Boone stated. “We perceive that, and hopefully he has that chance to proceed to do this.
“I’m going to bet on that. That said, it hasn’t happened, offensively speaking, to the level it needs to yet. But that doesn’t mean it won’t get there.”
Boone went on to say that Dansby Swanson’s path might be an excellent one for Volpe to comply with, as his profession obtained off to the same begin offensively. Nonetheless, the Cubs’ shortstop has been a tick beneath league-average offensively the final two seasons, although he had a 111 wRC+ from 2022-2023.
It was attention-grabbing that Boone used the phrase “hopefully” when discussing Volpe doubtlessly dwelling as much as expectations within the Bronx, because the Yankees have sometimes been adamant that he’s their shortstop of the current and future ever since he gained the beginning job as a rookie out of spring coaching in 2023. For essentially the most half, Cashman and Boone – particularly the latter – have defended Volpe at each flip, even when such help didn’t make sense.
Nonetheless, that definitive stance regularly softened as Volpe struggled on the finish of the season. That softening continued on Thursday, as Boone and Cashman each included caveats when requested if Volpe is the person shifting ahead.
“Yeah, I mean, he’s right in the mix to do that,” Boone stated, ensuring to say the Yankees have to see how their roster shakes out this winter.
“I think so,” Cashman added. “I believe in the player still. I think we believe in the player. It doesn’t mean that we don’t play with, on any level, all aspects of roster assessments. He’s 24 years old. I don’t think the New York stage is too big for him. He’s just still finding his way.”
It wouldn’t be simple for the Yankees to discover a long-term alternative for Volpe, as Bo Bichette, poised to be the highest free agent shortstop in the marketplace this winter, is among the place’s worst defenders. Some potential free brokers, like Trevor Story and Ha-Seong Kim, can stay with their present golf equipment by way of choices, whereas others, like ex-Yankee Isiah Kiner-Falefa, wouldn’t be something greater than a stop-gap or backup with prime prospect George Lombard Jr. not fairly prepared for The Present.
Internally, there’s Caballero, a speedy and beneficial utilityman who might have some flaws uncovered over constant enjoying time. As of now, he’s the main candidate to fill in for Volpe, whose harm might additionally create a spot for Oswaldo Cabrera on the 2026 Opening Day roster.
Within the Yankees’ good world, Volpe would possible return and clutch the shortstop place in a convincing method. Cashman, repeating a go-to truism of Boone’s, famous that success isn’t all the time “linear,” and he’d like that to use to Volpe.
“It’s also not guaranteed,” Cashman continued, “and that’s why it’s truthful to all the time assess what you could have and is it ok, and do you might want to substitute it, can you discover higher, and all that stuff that, I promise you, all the time takes place.
“But I believe in the player. I think we believe in the player.”
