Have the Yankees destroyed Anthony Volpe?

Apologies for the headline. What can I say? Clickbait. Don't know what got into me. Might as well link the guy to Taylor Swift or Billie Eilish. Do you know people do that? They namedrop Taylor, or Billie, or Sabrina, or Chappell, or Dua, et al - for the clicks. Poor Dua. Sad.

Nope, we're talking about Anthony Volpe, the meat-and-potatoes shortstop on the all-the-crab-legs-you-can-eat Yankees.  

And to answer our heading, no! The Yankees certainly have NOT destroyed their 23-year-old future icon... yet. 

He's hit a sour patch, that's all. Just ignore the last month - er, seven weeks - and Volpe's dearth of HRs, SBs, hits and walks. He still plays excellent defense. Considering the plights of Gleyber Torres, DJ LeMahieu, Oswaldo Cabrera and Who's On First, we can view Volpe as a flickering candle in an infield of blackness. 

Trouble is, that's not what the Yankees sold us.

Last year, in a disappointing rookie season, Volpe banged out 21 HRs, despite a BA of .209. In the minors, he'd been touted as one of MLB's premier hitting prospects, and he potentially would fill the Post-Jeter Abyss, which has haunted the Yankees since 2014. (Think: Isiah Kiner-Falefa, Gleyber, Tyler Wade, Troy Tulowitski, Didi Gregorius, Thairo Estrada, Your Name Here). Jeet retired 10 years ago, and nobody has come close. Volpe was supposed to be our best shot. More and more, that comparison looks unfair. 

Dear God, the quickest way to destroy a rookie is to compare him with an all-time great. (By the way, the Yankees crafted the perfect expectations trap for Jasson Dominguez, by suggesting he's the next Mickey Mantle and Mike Trout. Our new tradition: Killing youngsters via expectations.)  

Last winter, Volpe worked on leveling his swing, putting more balls into play. Through May, it worked. He batted .292 and was being mentioned in the rarified company of Gunner Henderson and Bobby Witt Jr. With Volpe leading off, the Yankees soared. On a few occasions, we at IIHIIFIIc might have even suggested that the Post-Jeter Abyss had been sated. 

Fuck dat. Lately, Volpe has withered into a batter without power and average - the worst of both worlds. He's been dropped from the leadoff spot, which should have been a cathartic place, ahead of Soto & Judge. Now, the YES spinners claim Volpe is free from the pressure of hitting leadoff - as if playing bat boy for the Yankees doesn't conjure ten times the pressures of KC.

Look... Volpe can turn around this season. He's got three months. The question is - and it's a dark one - whether he's trying to remake his swing, in the guts of a season. It's a lousy time to be starting anew. 

The Yankees haven't destroyed him... yet. Then again, Dua is still out there. Stay tuned.