The Yankees bench Anthony Volpe again, marking the end of their stubbornness and lies

Less than a month ago, New York Yankees manager Aaron Boone bristled when asked if he should give shortstop Anthony Volpe a day off because the young hitter was hitting just 3 of 43 at the plate. Ultimately, he finished the month of August with a .247 average and a .683 OPS. That doesn't look too bad, but it was his best month since May.

When the calendar turned to September, Volpe finished August with an 8-for-17 streak that would continue down the stretch. Except… it didn't. In his last 14 games, he has a .163 batting average with a .340 OPS and 17 strikeouts. Right now, his mini-outbursts feel more like an anomaly than anything else.

A few weeks after Boone nearly lost his temper over a very reasonable question, he released Volpe on September 9. It was the first time he had been out of the starting lineup all year. He could have easily done that in July to manage his workload, since the Yankees declared Volpe burned out in September last year.

Since that date? Volpe is 2 for 22 at bats with six strikeouts. And guess what? He has another day off on Tuesday as the Yankees open a series against the Seattle Mariners.

Oswaldo Cabrera, who deserved more playing time all year, will start at shortstop. He will need the reps as Boone works to put together the most flexible roster before the postseason.

The fact that the Yankees are putting Anthony Volpe on the bench again is proof of their stubbornness and lies

This discussion is nothing new, though. Fans have been begging the Yankees to give Volpe a breather so he can get his mind off of the offensive regression that followed a disappointing rookie season in the batter's box in 2023. Volpe is a promising young player, but he's far from finished. But the Yankees have already named him their shortstop of the future, so how could they justify a day off?! They never could.

This is consistent with the stubborn way the Yankees conduct their business. It is consistent with all the lies they spread about who they believe in and why their processes are better than anyone else's or the most trusted in the game.

They beat on Clay Holmes for a month too long when the closer faltered for a third straight game in June. The Yankees ignored it (despite cries from fans and media) until the situation became untenable and Holmes cost them games by blowing a league-leading 11 saves. They insisted all year that Holmes was “their guy” during the troubles (a lie) to dissuade everyone.

She Only has done so with Jasson Dominguez. Fans have been urging the Yankees to promote their top talent since early August, as veteran Alex Verdugo has been out for two months in a row the worst offense in the entire league. When the roster was expanded on September 1, Dominguez was nowhere to be found. Brian Cashman told everyone there was no way for Dominguez to play regularly (another lie), and the Yankees used the luxury of signing more players to accomplish nothing truly significant. Eight days later, Dominguez was promoted and suddenly there is plenty of playing time even though nothing has changed. Interesting.

Austin Wells was also affected by their decisions for a while. Although Jose Trevino had clearly done enough to become the team's starting catcher, he was immediately thrown back into that role after returning from the injured list. The team insisted that they would continue to play the matchups (stupid) and that they greatly valued Trevino's contribution (true, but also a lie, because that's no reason to penalize superior play). After using him in five of the next seven starts, they had seen enough. Trevino has played in just five games since August 27.

This is just another lesson in understanding how the Yankees operate. They will never make the obvious decision. They will wait until the fans/media are blue in the face and make their very real and valid arguments. Then, when everyone has stopped discussing it because it is obvious they are not going to change their ways, they will strike and leave everyone wondering why they did not make the logical decisions weeks or months earlier to better prepare for the future.

Volpe's situation, however, is perhaps the most ridiculous. A few days off a month? That's normal for almost every MLB player. The Yankees couldn't even deviate from that. They just had to wait 3-4 weeks until it got their way.

Hope it works. We won't reveal any more about it.