Is Anthony Volpe Still the Yankees Shortstop of the Future?

While the New York Yankees may be well on their way back to the postseason, the 2025 campaign has not been without its obstacles.

One of the underlying hurdles of the season has been the disappointing play of shortstop Anthony Volpe.

Once a prized prospect, he’s started to look like more like a mediocre, replacement-level big leaguer after what’s been a season filled with intense scrutiny.

Unfortunately, as unfair as it may be, anyone who mans the shortstop position on a regular basis for the New York Yankees will always be benchmarked against the great Derek Jeter — not only an all-time Yankees great but one of the game’s best to ever play the position.

But even without those extreme comparisons, Volpe’s performance throughout his three MLB seasons has been underwhelming, and it’s reached a new low in 2025.

As many begin to hold discussions on whether Volpe is indeed the shortstop of the future like many tabbed him to be ahead of his 2023 major-league debut, one of the most influential names in the discussion appears to have the young shortstop’s back. This, of course, is Yankees manager Aaron Boone.

At the end of August, The Athletic‘s Chris Kirschner reported on Boone’s present vote of confidence in Volpe.

“I view Anthony as our shortstop,” the Yankees skipper told Kirschner and the media.

As fine and dandy as that quote might be for Volpe, there’s still a lot this quote isn’t saying.

The biggest omission is a time frame. How long will Boone, GM Brian Cashman, and the rest of the Yankees’ brain trust feel this way about Volpe? Are his days in fact numbered as New York’s starting shortstop?

It’s been a dreadful 2025 campaign, and Volpe’s future in the Bronx has never been more unclear.

The 2025 Season Has Been One to Forget for Anthony Volpe

Other than a serviceable first three months of the season and some solid power production (most notably his 19 home runs), there’s been little to be excited about at all when it comes to Volpe’s offensive production.

Simply put, the last several months have been downright awful from him at the dish:

From an underlying metrics perspective, despite an above-average barrel rate, he doesn’t hit the ball overly hard. His 10.3% barrel rate has been a major contributing factor to his home run total, but Volpe is in the 44th percentile in hard-hit rate and the 39th percentile average exit velocity, according to Baseball Savant.

Then there’s a matter of his plate discipline. Despite not chasing many pitches (75th-percentile chase rate of 23.9%), Volpe whiffs 25.1% of the time, placing him in 44th percentile. He also strikes out at a 25% clip (26th percentile) while walking just 7.4% of the time (36th percentile). Those numbers aren’t going to cut it.

All of this has culminated in some pretty uninspiring expected metrics, too. Volpe holds a 15th-percentile xBA of .235 and a 26th-percentile xwOBA of .313. Pair poor bat-to-ball metrics with subpar power, and it’s no surprise to see those numbers as low as they are.

But the most glaring drop-off has been Volpe’s defense, which was the only thing keeping his value afloat up to this season. After posting +15 DRS and +1 OAA as a rookie in 2023 and then +6 DRS and +14 OAA last season, Volpe has posted just +2 DRS and a whopping -8 OAA in 2025.

His range (OAA) sits in the fourth percentile, which pairs very poorly with the fact his arm strength has never ranked above the 35th percentile at a position where a strong arm can be a real difference maker. For reference, Volpe was in the top three percent of MLB in range last season.

Volpe has hit like this before and still managed to be a 2.0-plus fWAR player. It’s his rapid decline on defense that’s been the biggest reason why he’s less than a 1.0 fWAR player this season (0.8).

It’s not just one thing that’s gone wrong for Volpe this season, suggesting that perhaps things are spiraling on the young shortstop. Set to hit his first year of arbitration next season, the clock may be ticking for Volpe to figure things out in a window where the Yankees cannot afford to have a black hole at such a premier position.

If Not Volpe, Then Who?

Of course, there needs to be a clear candidate to replace Volpe if the ball club were to actually move in a different direction.

At the major-league level, the Yankees don’t have anybody who really stands out as an upgrade over Volpe, hence why Boone has publicly shown his support for the struggling youngster.

José Caballero is the closest thing the Yankees have as a replacement in the big leagues, who happens to have four more years of team control remaining.

However, despite holding a 115 wRC+ since arriving in the Bronx at the deadline, the utilityman looks more like a change-of-pace guy than a replacement for Volpe. For the season, he has just an 88 wRC+. He can get on base at a solid clip, but he struggles with hitting the ball hard and avoiding the strikeout.

Apart from Caballero, the other MLB-ready candidates to fill the position project more as second or third basemen.

Now, the long-term perspective of this question is a much more interesting conversation.

Whether or not he’ll be ready for the majors by Opening Day 2026 remains to be seen, but top prospect George Lombard Jr. could be the answer beyond 2025.

Lombard, Just Baseball’s No. 23 overall prospect and No. 1 overall Yankees prospect, is one of the top names to watch in the minor leagues at the moment.

With 80 grade future value (FV) in plate discipline and 55 FVs in hitting, running and fielding, he offers then Yankees a well-rounded option to dream on.

Moreover, his 2025 season has been one to remember. The 20-year-old has a 127 wRC+ across High-A Hudson Valley and Double-A Somerset to go with a 14.9% walk rate and 33 stolen bases.

Lombard still has some development left before taking over at the major-league level, though. That being said, the 2026 ETA that our own Aram Leighton tabbed for him will certainly be one to watch throughout the offseason and next spring. At the moment, he appears to be the only real internal threat to Volpe’s everyday role at short.

Who Could the Yankees Pursue This Winter as a Potential Volpe Replacement?

Given that Volpe ranks second to last among all qualified primary shortstops in wRC+, OPS, OAA, and fWAR, nearly anyone at this rate would be an upgrade over him.

That being said, this is the big-money Yankees we’re talking about here, so if they’re going to replace him via the free-agent market or trade this winter, one would think they’d opt to swing for the fences.

Regarding the trade market, given its positional importance, trading for a top-notch shortstop can be quite difficult. It’s not out of the question, but going after a more impactful free agent is probably the more likely route they’d take.

The most influential name that comes to mind is impending free agent Bo Bichette, who’s in the midst of a bounce-back year at the plate with the surging Toronto Blue Jays. He’s slashing .311/.357/.483 with 18 HR, 93 RBI, just a 14.5% strikeout rate to go with a 132 wRC+ in 139 games this season.

He’s likely the prized shortstop target of the offseason, but with the Yankees’ pedigree, they can go toe-to-toe with just about anyone on the open market.

Then there’s another current AL East rival that could very well hit the open market this winter in Trevor Story, who has a opt-out for 2026 in his contract with the Red Sox.

Now, despite looking solid with a .262 AVG, .744 OPS, 23 HR, 89 RBI and a 101 wRC+ in a 140 games with Boston this season, there’s still a big injury question when it comes to the 32-year-old veteran. Whether or not he would receive a bigger offer than the three years, $55 million remaining on his contract remains yet to be seen, but it’s fair to think not given his suspect track record.

Still, the opportunity to nab a veteran shortstop with an All-Star past could be too good of an opportunity to pass up for Brian Cashman and Company.

Anthony Volpe’s Seat is as Hot as Ever

Working on his third consecutive season with both a sub-.700 OPS and sub-90 wRC+, Volpe’s defensive regression has only made his leash shorter with the Yankees brass.

Pair his disappointing play with the fact that the Yankees have one of the game’s best young shortstop talents waiting patiently in the wings, along with the potential names they could target this offseason, and Volpe’s spot looks even more in jeopardy.

At the end of the day, though, the season isn’t over quite yet. With a few weeks left in the regular season, there’s still time for Volpe to turn the ship around before the playoffs begin. Besides, there would be no better time for him to win back the faith of Yankees fans than in October.

Would that be enough though at this point? All we can do is wait and see.

Stats were taken prior to play on September 8.