The NY Post is right...
Wow. Have I lost it? Is this about Bigfoot? Whacko Jacko? Elliot Spitzer? Wait... are we posting on Anthony Volpe... or Anthony Weiner?
Hard to say. In today's print version of Fox News, veteran Post sports columnist Jon Heyman - (pride of Cedarhurst!) - says two unnamed scouts are worried about Anthony Volpe's ever-expanding strike zone.
Volpe - the Yankee IT Girl of April - has now fanned 84 times, the 12th highest total in all of MLB. He's hitting a ruinous .191 with an on base percentage of - gulp - .265. It's time to contemplate the fear that, after all the hype and hubbub, Volpe could be a new version of Tyler Wade. As John Sterling would say, "OW! OW! OW!"
Optimists can point to Volpe's recent micro-streak: He's 5 for 21 in his last five games, a Stantonian .238. That comes after adjusting his stance at the suggestion of old minor league teammates. (Which raises another question: Who exactly is guiding this kid?) Trouble is, the strikeouts keep coming. (Over those five games, 8 Ks.)
Heyman quotes two anonymous scouts who say what everybody sorta knows: Volpe should be a pesky gnat, a Pedroia who grinds out walks, steals bases and drives pitchers crazy. Instead, he's trying to hit each pitch to White Plains. It's not working.
Heyman shrouds his story with an avalanche of praise for both Volpe and the Yankees. It's a given that, in this age of access, any media critique must be made with hat in hand, amid great gushing gobs of slobber. Even the unnamed scouts go out of their way to praise Volpe - you suspect the Yankees know their identity - while gently suggesting a trip to Scranton would help him "relearn" his swing.
Are the Yankees playing Good Scout/Bad Scout? Heyman's column follows recent pronouncements from Hal Steinbrenner and Brian Cashman that treat any suggestion of demoting Volpe as fighting words. Both have reaffirmed their support. Still, the all-star break is near, strikeouts are starting to pinch, and Oswald Peraza continues to hit in Triple A. (Oz didn't play last night for Scranton; donno why.)
The mere appearance of Heyman's column suggests Volpe's introduction might be running out. Used to be, the last thing you wanted to hear was a Steinbrenner expressing confidence in you, am I right?
Well, a final thought: If Giancarlo Stanton or Jackie Donaldson started hitting, maybe Volpe wouldn't find himself on the skewer. With a lineup of Triple A retreads and big contract disappointments, he's not the only batter who hauls embarrassing stats to the Jumbotron. The Yankees score in the first inning, then hibernate. It's supposed to be that batters gain an advantage in their 2nd and 3rd at-bats against a pitcher. Not this lineup. I wonder: What does that tell us about the general direction of this team?
Either way, a shoe may have just dropped. The NY Post is right... Volpe might be the future of this team, but the Yankees cannot carry him in this incarnation forever. He needs help, he needs a fresh start, and I'm not sure either will come from unnamed scouts.
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27 comments:
The kid has no mentors/leaders to follow on this team. He watches Stanton, Jackie D all the retreads and sees how they approach an AB and he follows their lead. Clearly this team team has no Batting coach, unless Mario Mendoza is a silent contributor. At least when Jeter came up (not to compare the two) he had professional hitters like Boggs, Bernie Williams, Tino, Paul O'neil and Giradi to watch everyday. Maybe the kid will only be a spare part, but I bet if went to another team he would blossom under some real coaching.
Fire Dillon Lawson!!!
Maybe the kid could bunt once in a while.
He can always bunt with 2 strikes if they insist he keep up with our K Twins, Micky Stanton and Donald Duckson.
Little Tony needs to go down and get his swing and mind right.
Maybe Boonie could go play a quick pickup basketball game, and ya know, tweak something and we can get another Dugout Facilitator for Halitosis and Assman to captain their Titanic.
I wonder what works quicker to make that angry nut-job appear. Writing about Anthony Volpe or reciting Betelgeuse 3 times?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G6a3fck0NBI
Meanwhile, Jasson DomÃnguez is hitting .205/.321/.359 (.680 OPS) in his last 30 games with a 31.4 K% in Double-A.
Very disappointing season from our top two prospects.
Not surprised that Dillon Lawson and the batting coaches up here can't fix Volpe. (Have they fixed anyone who was struggling? Seriously, name one guy.) I've heard the minor league batting coaches are really good. Instead of sending everyone down, how about they promote some of those batting coaches up here?
I saw Volpe bunt once. He made it, then stole 2B and 3B and scored on a grounder. I think our crack coaching staff and manager made a bee line to him and told him to never, ever, ever do that again. "We don't bunt here, kid. We hit home runs. You just got lucky this time. Bunts have been proven to be useless by our analytics team. The only way to go is maximizing your exit velocity by swinging in as large an arc as possible, combined with the proper launch angle of 22.121255 degrees. And we teach explosive weight lifting in the gym to maximize load. It's been proven in the lab, rocket science is the key to baseball, kid. It's time you get with the program."
Also for your seething- er, I mean reading pleasure in the NY Post:
https://nypost.com/2023/06/20/yankees-lineup-is-more-than-aaron-judge-brian-cashman/
Ma & Pa Yankee noted that it's surprising that everyone is obsessing over Volpe's non-production, when the entire lineup (other than Judge) is doing just as bad. And there is something to that. How about we get these guys in the top and middle of the lineup to start producing, and maybe then we can worry about the bottom of the lineup hitting?
And the morons who run this organization said there are no plans to bring up Peraza. Yeah, because they have no plans to win. Why should Peraza be a replacement for Volpe? Peraza should never have been sent to the minors in the first place. After he made the team last year, Peraza should've been starting either SS or 3B. Volpe should've been either SS or 2B. It would've been defense first with both of these guys. Anything they hit is just a bonus.
@ ZacharyA, Yeah, but he's hitting home runs. And that's what they want.
>I've heard the minor league batting coaches are really good. Instead of sending everyone down, how about they promote some of those batting coaches up here?
Hammer,
Isn't that how Lawson got here in the first place? He was our minor-league batting coordinator from 2018-2021 and we promoted him. He was previously with the Astros organization and coached Carlos Correa when he was a prospect. Lawson was supposedly the guy behind our minor-league breakout in 2021 which saw guys like Volpe, Oswaldo, Peraza, Pereira, Trevor Hauver, Josh Smith, etc. take huge steps forward. That's why he got promoted.
Personally I don't care if the Yankees replace Lawson or not. I have no loyalty to the guy. But those types of moves seem like just PR moves to appease the crowd. At the end of the day, our offensive failures lie directly on the shoulders of the players and the man who assembled this group of players. Not the guy who reads them scouting reports and makes suggestions they may or may not listen to.
In recent years we've cycled through Alan Cockrell, Marcus Thames, P. J. Pilittere, Alan Cockrell, Hensley Meulens and are now employing Dillon Lawson and Casey Dykes. At some point, with all our coaching turnover, we need to accept the issue goes beyond an individual coach.
Yeah, but he's not getting it done right now. In fact, when has he got it done up here?
Just a thought. Hearing that some of these guys say that their careers were rejuvenated by this coach or that coach in the minors.
Personally I don't think replacing the hitting coach is going to magically make this roster more talented or magically make Brian Cashman a better decision-maker.
I'm fine with replacing Lawson, I just don't buy into the idea that these veteran hitters need a hitting coach to hold their hands or they can't remember how to play ball.
And Lawson has done well with Volpe and Oswaldo and some of the other kids in the minors, so I'm willing to let him keep working with them.
If they're going to TANK, they should tank. Not bringing up Estevan and Peraza indicates that they are not going to try additional "new blood."
Leaving Volpe in place is either paralysis or the triumph of hope -- or part of the Tank plan. (and scolding him - if that's what they did -- when he bunted for a hit + stole 2 bases would indicate The Grand Tank).
I thought (and what do I know) that trading Montgomery last summer was part of a plan to Tank The Heck out of things. They acquired Rodent, Darth Bader, and Frankie Nada -- guys who were injured and/or became injured -- and collectively have contributed Not Very Much. THAT also looks like part of a plan to Tank.
They dumped the LH-hitting catcher, who seemed to provide a hope of something-or-other, back to AAA as soon as they could. A move to Tank 2023?
Yeah, I know, there are holes in my analysis. However, one of the many efforts pursued by those on this blog is to try to figure out WTF the braintrust is doing here.
So if they are NOT trying to Tank 2023, and they are clearly not trying to WIN in 2023 -- what the heck is the plan?
It goes beyond Lawson. Their whole approach consists of swinging for the fences on every pitch. Whenever someone takes an emergency swing and fouls off a two strike pitch, it's like seeing a miracle. Wow, I didn't know these guys could do that!
It seems like someone is steering the coaching staff to coach everyone in a certain way, pulling their strings. I get that the hitters suck, but is everyone here really a .190 to .220 hitter? It's not so much that they don't hit. Their approach sucks.
Unfortunately, Anthony is struggling. A team like the B what they are doing woulf demote him and bring up Perrazaz. But Clueless Hal and his crew, who know best, will continue his stay with the anemic Yankees. Clown thinking, clown organization.
@ JoeFOB, I was just kidding about them scolding Volpe for bunting. I don't know that they actually did that. But that's sort of the thing they do to everyone. They try to turn everyone into a home run hitter. Anyway, since that time, I don't think he's bunted much, if ever.
I don't think there is a plan, and that's the problem with this franchise. The only plan is to keep kicking the can down the street, straight to the bank.
Great point, Celerino. And yeah, Hammer, Volpe had 13 SB through May13th, without getting caught. He's had 2 since—and still hasn't been caught. WTF? The Yanks just erased that part of his game.
If the Yankees really can't hit, past time they went for as good a defensive team as possible. Put IKF on third, Volpe on second, Peraza at short, bring up Florial so we can have what Duque said would be the best defensive OF in baseball: Judge, Bader, Florial (provided, of course, that Judge and Bader can stay on the field).
Trade Torres, ditch Donaldson, and...have Big G runs sprints until he breaks again. Should take five minutes.
Just thinking outside the box here,. Would there be a market for Trevino?
Higgy and Bennny Biceps could man the Tools of Ignorance and we may get a serviceable guy or two.
He's arbitration eligible for next year and 2025, so someone would have 2.5 years of him.
We can get a pretty decent young OF and another prospect.
We need OF more than catchers right now and do have some interesting young guys beyond Higgy and Benny.
All this kvelling over Volpe. He has never hit well above A ball. Maybe he's just not that good a hitter.
(Spring training doesn't count--not a reliable predictor of future performance. )
They can hang on to Arch Stanton, if they absolutely must. He can DH for the rest of his natural life. When he's healthy enough to play. So they'll have to keep one of the major league rejects they have to keep his seat warm.
But Donaldson should've been out of here a long time ago. The 5 homers in 6 games (mostly during garbage time) has got him back firmly entrenched at 3B. But that's the wrong way to go with this team. When he got hurt, they should've jettisoned him. I know, I know, he makes too much money to cut loose, and that's not their style.
If we need Volpe to be the savior with the bat, that's how pitiful the top and middle of the lineup is. If guys like Stanton were hitting, Volpe can hit .000 as long as he gets it done with the glove.
Here's a couple of quotes from the post article:
"Two scouts who’ve followed him for years see a swing that’s different, more “uphill” and harder than ever. They say they believe he’s bought into the launch-angle theory (Volpe says no)...."
“He’s going away from what made him special — getting on base, battling, tough at-bats,” the scout said. “Now it’s three strikes and sit down. That’s not his game. Someone told him not to worry about strikeouts. He swings out of his [behind] every pitch, even with two strikes.”
Well, I'm glad I'm not crazy, because that's what I was seeing. And the tv analysts also, like Paul O'Neil and the FOX team and the fans too. Oh, and swinging out of his butt every pitch, even with two strikes? Just about everyone on the team does that.
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