Baseball, especially in New York, is never short of heated debates and passionate opinions. For Yankees fans, few topics spark as much conversation—or division—as the ongoing saga of Anthony Volpe. As the team’s young shortstop continues to navigate the highs and lows of his early career, the fanbase finds itself split between optimism and concern, hope and frustration. Some see a future star in the making, pointing to his flashes of brilliance and undeniable talent. Others worry about his prolonged slumps and question whether he can truly live up to the hype that surrounded his arrival in the Bronx.

No matter which side you’re on, it’s clear that Volpe’s journey is far from straightforward. The numbers offer both promise and cause for concern, fueling debates that stretch from the bleachers to social media feeds. Yet, at the heart of the conversation lies a shared desire: to see the Yankees succeed and their young players thrive. As the season unfolds, the discussion around Volpe only grows more complex, challenging fans to balance loyalty with honest evaluation. In a city where expectations are sky-high, the story of Anthony Volpe is still being written—and everyone wants a say in how it turns out.

Such is life, we suppose.

Toronto Blue Jays v New York Yankees - Game One Toronto Blue Jays v New York Yankees – Game One | Evan Bernstein/GettyImages

If you’re an Anthony Volpe “eye test” fan, welcome to the discussion! If you’re an Anthony Volpe truther regardless of how he’s actually performing, come on down! Every Yankees fan is welcome, no matter what side of the argument you are on. It’s time for an honest and truthful conversation surrounding our starting shortstop.

Volpe’s early tenure with New York has been very complicated. He’s a bright young player with a high ceiling, but fans have only gotten a light sample of that. Looking at his 20-20 rookie season hardly tells the story of his glaring struggles. Same goes for his hit increase from 2023-2024. Same goes for his 6.7 cumulative WAR over his first two full MLB campaigns.

But here we are in 2025 … and we’re still kind of stuck in the same spot. In between Volpe’s impressive ranks among American League shortstops, he just endured an 8-for-57 slump while striking out over 30% of the time.

You could look at his numbers in totality and say, “yeah, a .770 OPS and 119 OPS+ with a 1.3 WAR is pretty darn good through 29 games,” but the rebuttal is that the lows are so bad that it’s hard to justify those two offensive marks as sufficient. When a majority of your offensive success comes in 5- or 10-game spurts, it’s not what you’d call a desirable output. For example, you might look at Volpe’s five home runs and deem that encouraging through 29 games, but he hit four of those in his first five games. His prolonged slump from April 6 – 23 featured just two extra-base hits. His .770 OPS is essentially buoyed by eight out of his 29 games, while his detrimental play over that heinous 17-game stretch cost the team in many ways.

The issue with Volpe is his consistency, and the issue with the Yankees is their inability to help him slow down and see things more clearly. Again, Volpe is arguably just as talented as his other successful shortstop peers, even though some might quickly rebut that. He may not be on their level right now, but the tools are there. There’s a reason he was a consensus top prospect in the game.

The Anthony Volpe conversation among Yankees fans isn’t getting any easier

The bright side? Volpe is a very good defender (except, uh, Wednesday in Baltimore). When he’s on offensively, he’s a valuable lineup spark. He’s a solid player and only 24 years old.

But the Yankees have forced Volpe into pressure. They never give him a day off. Since debuting in 2023, he’s missed just five games despite evidence to the contrary suggesting that he performs better after getting a breather. They tried to force him into the leadoff spot in the lineup, where he faltered greatly in 106 games, hitting .229/.288/.355.

Again, you could look at the numbers from him this year and remain optimistic about his trajectory, but what about these troubling numbers?

With RISP — .171 AVG, .679 OPS in 40 plate appearances
With Men On — .170 AVG, .628 OPS in 53 plate appearances
Against 1-2 and 0-2 counts — 2-for-28 with 17 strikeouts
Ranks in the 18th percentile for strikeout rate
Ranks in the 22nd percentile for whiff percentage
He literally cannot hit breaking or off-speed stuff and still has trouble catching up to fastballs

As for more good news, his hard-hit rate is up and he’s barreling more pitches. He’s also not chasing out of the zone frequently. There are some improvements! Nobody is denying that. But most of the same issues are persisting, and the slumps are so depressed that his short turnarounds rarely ever make up for them … regardless of what the cumulative numbers look like.

So, all we’re asking? Give the kid a few more off days. Work harder to identify when he’s very clearly mismatched against an opposing starter. Continue to keep him anywhere between the 6-9 spots in the lineup. Do not run him into the ground. Do not force him to be somebody he’s not. Do not elevate the spotlight for him arbitrarily.

We’re not saying this is an easy discussion to have, but in the end, Yankees fans are Yankees fans and they will stand behind Anthony Volpe if push comes to shove. Amongst us, however, we need to be somewhere in between “I can’t believe these idiots passed on Corey Seager for this kid!” and “Anthony Volpe is the best baseball player ever, so shut your mouth and don’t ever point out a flaw of his.” We just want peace.