Steinbrenner: Fighter Anthony Volpe didn’t head to Triple-A

Speaking at MLB headquarters before owners’ meetings, Steinbrenner said the team hadn’t had any talks about sending Volpe to the minor leagues despite the 22-year-old struggling at the plate, hitting .186/.260/.345 with nine. Homers and 1.0 bWAR in 67 games.

“I told Anthony at the end of spring training, you said you were going to start shortstop the New York Yankees,” Steinbrenner said. “This is not a three-week beta. So it will also be through potential ups and downs, and there will likely be ups and downs.”

In recent weeks, Volpe has shown signs of frustration, nearly hitting his bat after stranding the tying series in the third to end Sunday night’s 3-2 loss to the Boston Red Sox. While Volpe struggled with blows all year, he began to struggle with the gauntlet as well, scoring a mediocre three points, ranking among the worst defenders at that position.

Portions of the fanbase are calling for offside prospect Oswald Peraza, who is having a solid season at Triple-A, hitting . 311 with 10 home runs, 21 RBIs, 21 runs and a 0.980 OPS with the Scranton/Wilkes-Barre RailRiders. While Peraza continues to thrive in the minor leagues, Steinbrenner has expressed his belief that Volpe will turn things around.

“Well, you never know, but now [Peraza’s] At Triple-A. “He’s having a good year,” Steinbrenner said. “We’ll see. I wasn’t sure at the start of the season that either of them would start for us. I knew they were coming and I knew they were going to be strong, but I don’t think I was ever there to say that with the plan for both of them to play at the start of 2023.”

With the trade deadline approaching nearly a month away, Steinbrenner said the Yankees would look to add, but did not specify whether they prioritized shooting or hitting, given the team’s injury status with outfielders Aaron Judge and Harrison Bader and pitcher Carlos Rodon all over injured. existing.

“I’m not trying to cheat, but I mean we still have a ways to go to the trade deadline,” Steinbrenner said. “We’ll have to see when Rodon will be back. Right now, he’s on schedule; everything looks fine. We’ll have to see if he [Luis Severino] He stays healthy. That’s a question for four weeks from now.”

Last year’s trade deadline — when the team acquired starter Frankie Montas, outfielders Bader and Andrew Benintende and relievers Lou Trevino and Scott Efros — didn’t work out as well as they had hoped, Steinbrenner said, but it won’t have any impact on the team’s aggressiveness at this year’s deadline.

“No, it didn’t work out. But again, our process, we’re very precise, and we’ve talked to a lot of people,” Steinbrenner said. “With pitchers, you always run a chance on injuries, but we just felt like we needed to make these moves to get us off the hump.”