Monday, June 26, 2023

The Yankees have no recourse but to stay with Anthony Volpe

For weeks now, Yank fans have grown increasingly uneasy about Anthony Volpe, the locally grown rookie SS, who now has his own personal in-game radio ad read by John  and Suzyn. ("... As Anthony Volpe steps up to the plate, you can step up to a plate of delicious pasta,at Volpe's Italian Restaurant in Fox Hollow, Long Island...") Hold the rigatoni! It might be the first one-player radio since Hideki Matsui's appearance summoned praise for the Benihana Steakhouse. 

The Yankee front office can't find pitching, but it sure knows how to monetize an asset. 

Yesterday, Volpe electrified the Yankiverse with an 8th-inning double, triggering a game-saving rally. It was magical. Now only did he rouse the crowd, but Volpe psyched out the Texas pitcher, prepping to steal third. On the bases, Volpe is one frigging spicy plate of pasta.

The problem: Getting there. Yesterday's double was Volpe's sole hit of the Rangers series. (He went 1-7, with two walks.) He's an enigma. He has yet to be thrown out stealing. He's sorta warm, hitting .258 the last two weeks. Overall, though, he's hitting .195.

He doesn't hit righties (.198) or lefties (.182). He doesn't hit at home (.197) or on the road (.191.) On a 2-2 count, he has yet to record a single hit. (33 times, 24 strikeouts.) With two strikes, his batting average is an anemic .106. Let's face it: Once he has two strikes on him, everybody in the crowd loses hope. He leads the Yankees in strikeouts.

Why go on? I know Volpe, you know Volpe, we all know Volpe. We also know that he's been the Yankee Chosen One - our designated future savior - for the last two years, when he lit up Single A and soared to the top of the team's prospects lists. We sat out two classes of star free agent shortstops, because he was on the way. 

But lately, there have been coded whispers. Last week, Jon Heyman of the Murdoch Post quoted two unnamed scouts who suggested that Volpe should go to Triple A and retool his swing. Sometimes, that's a double-secret trial balloon, a sign of what the front office is thinking, a warning to the player and the fans. 

Well, for now, anyway, scratch that option.

The reason: Oswald Peraza - our secondary can't-miss rookie SS - has disappeared. Peraza hasn't played since June 18, and the Yankees haven't said why. The Scranton Times-Herald beat writer Conor Foley has reported that the team is awaiting the results of "tests." Uh-oh. I don't think they mean pop quizzes.  

Peraza had been crushing Triple A: .292 with 11 HRs in 34 games. I think Heyman's story was a sign that the Yankees were ready to make a move. But if Peraza is hurt - well - so much for replacing Volpe. 

Playing SS for Scranton yesterday was 26-year-old Max Burt, a converted 3B who is hitting .261. Burt was filling in for Wilmer Difo, a 31-year-old banjo-hitting vagabond who has played for Washington, Pittsburgh and Arizona over the last decade. He's fast and can play defense, with a lifetime batting average of .250 (almost Ruthian, compared to Volpe, eh?) 

With due respect to Burt and Difo, our choice is probably Volpe or the scrap heap. If Volpe were to tweak a gonad tomorrow, we'd probably see Oswaldo Cabrera play SS for a few days, while Cooperstown Cashman works the waiver wires. 

So when Volpe steps up to the plate, you should step up to a plate - of hope. Because it's him or meatballs. It worked Sunday. Keep fingers crossed and your fork on stand by.

31 comments:

  1. Good Lord, another mystery injury.

    WTF is wrong with this organization? How can no one stay healthy? And beyond that, how come each injury must be engulfed in all this secrecy?

    This is silly, already.

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  2. Volpe is hitting as badly as Stanton, DJ, and Jackie. Time to sign him to an expensive, multiyear contract.

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  3. "Peraza hasn't played since June 18, and the Yankees haven't said why."

    Probably nothing to worry about, day to day. Until he hits the 60 day DL.

    Pravda is more loose-lipped than the Yankees' front office.

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  4. Judge may be out the rest of the year because, in essence, he stubbed his toe. Very badly.

    On the other hand, Donaldson and Boone had a "good conversation" yesterday. And Ian Hamilton is coming back. And Rodon is one game away from joining the team.

    Although Stanton said he doesn't think his slump is over, even with that big hit yesterday.

    Unremitting positivity, big guy.

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  5. Add this to the Mystery Box

    https://yanksgoyard.com/posts/yankees-top-prospect-has-mysteriously-been-out-of-double-a-lineup-since-may-30-01h3dhzz4fj7

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  6. Here's a Peraza article

    https://www.cbssports.com/fantasy/baseball/news/yankees-oswald-peraza-appears-to-be-dealing-with-injury/

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  7. That's one specy spicy meatball.
    Anyone have any Alka-seltzer?

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  8. RF Estevan Florial 0-4, K — now in 3-for-27 slump. Well, more good news.....

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  9. Question: why aren’t the “professional” journalists demanding better answers? They let Boone, cashman, et al, off the hook all the time.

    Look, Volpe needs to go down. They promoted him too quickly. Yes, sometimes things are that simple. IKF can fill in at SS until Peraza is ready. It’s far from ideal, but does it really matter on this mediocre, lopsided roster?

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  10. WHERE DO I SEND MY TICKET MONEY?????

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  11. The Judge Family of Interstate Batteries led the way for Volpe spaghetti house.

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  12. Winnie...check your email...you should have received one...

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  13. if not, if you give me email, I'll forward to u...

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  14. You can throw out all the stats on Volpe from before the Chicken Parmigiana Incident. He was flailing for a long time. Thing is, at the start of the season, he was protecting the outside corner with two strikes, and yet still getting around on the fastball inside. So something changed between the early season and the long period of struggle under .200 BA. He has been a lot better since the CPI. I say leave him alone until the All Star Break and then make another assessment.

    After seeing the Texas Rangers, I'd love to swap our manager and all of our coaches for their manager and all of their coaches. Yeah, they're never going to do that. Why would anyone would want Boone?

    Yanks won two out of three against one of the best teams in the A.L. I think that was merely a blip showcasing how sometimes mediocrity can raise its game against good competition. And maybe Texas didn't play its best. The Yanks got up for this series and got pretty good pitching. Look for a big deflation in the next week or so.

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  15. Texas hitters go the other way a lot, don't they? We could use some of that here.

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  16. A surprising day of timely Yankee small ball balling w RISP > you can't predict baseball Suzyn!

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  17. Well, we do have the consensus worst MLB team coming up (Oakland, ANOTHER W/C trip? Ditch that “balanced” sched next year) and then the underperforming Cards. We should go at least 4-2 or better, but who knows with this team?

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  18. I know we spend most of our time complaining about the Yankees' incredible disappearing offense, and I'm hardly the first to say this, but our pitching is often incredible. Somehow, with a generally crap rotation and a revolving cast coming out of the bullpen (and doing it a LOT) We just faced the most fearsome offense in the West, maybe in the AL, and held them to seven runs over three games.

    That's pretty amazing. The stars aligned, much like they dis-aligned when we played Boston. (Was fun seeing IKF strike a guy out, though. Reminds me of the time the Yanks were getting blown out and Houk brought in Rocky Colavito to pitch...)

    The offense isn't fixable. That is, it is fixable, maybe, but management will not do any of the things needed to, maybe, fix it. But if the pitching can come through with regularity (as opposed to IBS, say), it would be fun to see this team rack up a bunch of wins with guys hitting .150 or .200 or whatever.

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  19. Wednesday night in Oakland I get to see the ultra premium subpar (I mean) super match up of GERMAN vs SEARS.

    Broken bats and broken dreams will be many as these two juggernauts take each other on LIVE in front of my drooping glazzies.

    I will attempt to provide evidence that a team “like” the Yankees (because we all know these aren’t really the Yankees anymore) can spike the Athletics’ attendance from 4,000 to 10,000 and beyond!

    The green and gold, uh, faces off against the tired and old !!!

    More Coffee

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  20. AA , look for a guy wearing a Yankee jersey with *all* the retired numbers on it. He's coming to the game in August.

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  21. AA.

    Email me at rufus.yankees@EasyMailer.live

    address is good for 1/2 hour and I'll reply from a real email.

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  22. Yanks Go Yard website is reporting that the ever popular “Anonymous Source” with knowledge of their inner working says the team does expect Judge back by the end of July. This is not written in stone of course.

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  23. It’s written in finely clipped toenails

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  24. This comment has been removed by the author.

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  25. duque notes that Volpe excelled in A ball but fails to note that he was lousy in AA and AAA. He had one good spring training--but spring training numbers have no predictive value. His main arguments for sticking with Volpe seems to be as follows: (a) Peraza is unavailable, and (b) Volpe got one key hit in one game yesterday. The latter is not a serious argument--it's recency bias stretched unto absurdity. (a) carries more weight, but then the question is this: what if Peraza's injury is temporary and he is available to play again soon? Given the team's collective impotence at the plate, rational self-interest would dictate demoting Volpe in favor of the more accomplished hitter and all-around player.

    Two key indicators that duque glosses over: Volpe's sickly OPS+ of 76 and his equally dismal wRC+ of 77. Those numbers are not sustainable over the long term. When Peraza is healthy again, he should be promoted and Volpe demoted--the latter clearly is overmatched against major league pitching. But the team PR machinery is so heavily invested in Volpe that stubborn wishful thinking may eclipse rational thinking, as it so often does in the Yankee front office--although usually as regards thrice-failed retreads and veterans, not underperforming rookies. As a major leaguer, Volpe remains a prospect, a hope, a work in progress--but in the real world, a serious drag on the team offense. Are the Yankees willing to sink their season in pursuit of a pipe dream that is clearly going up in smoke? Who knows what madness lurks in the back rooms of the gated-community mafia.

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  26. Hey, I'm not sure why you typed any words in the headline beyond "The Yankees Have No Recourse"....

    They painted themselves into this corner, with the brilliant decisions of Cashmonkey, and the inability (or unwillingness) to manage of Lorna Boone. And, of course, whatever the heck drives Hal S to let these guys run things.

    We have options. We can go become fans of the Queensites.

    I, for one, forsake monarchy of any type.

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  27. Sad that no one mentioned chicken parm today.

    It filled me with poultry pouts and saucy sadness.

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  28. AA, See my post up above, it'll perk you up!

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