Yankees' Aaron Boone pushes back on Anthony Volpe starting questions

The New York Yankees have been one of the better teams in baseball this season, but with Aaron Judge on the injured list, it's going to be imperative that everyone in the lineup steps up to fill his absence.

One way to improve the offense would be to shake things up with the infield. Anthony Volpe has struggled a bit this season, especially lately, and the Yankees could stand to benefit from getting some other players more playing time this season over Volpe.

But, when asked about such a possibility on the Talkin' Yanks podcast, Yankees manager Aaron Boone pushed back on talk of Volpe starting less and getting too much run over someone like Jose Caballero.

Aaron Boone defends Anthony Volpe's playing time despite struggles

"He's been really good in the field... In a handful of those games, he's squared some things up too, and not been rewarded," Boone said.

While Boone is trying to defend his player, which isn't a surprise whatsoever, his avid defense of Volpe is not likely to sit well with Yankees fans.

While Volpe had a 1.012 OPS in his first 20 plate appearances coming off the injured list, in the next 49 plate appearances, his OPS has dropped significantly to .485.

It's clear that Volpe is struggling offensively, and yet, he's getting a lot of playing time while better hitters in Caballero, Spencer Jones, and Max Schuemann have to ride the bench.

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Boone's defense of Volpe is understandable, as he won't throw his own players under the bus. But that doesn't mean this comment isn't any less frustrating for Yankees fans.

Ideally, Volpe wouldn't be seeing as much playing time as he is right now, and instead, some of those at-bats would go to Jones, Caballero, or even Schuemann.

This will be a situation to continue monitoring, as Boone, for now, is sticking with Volpe despite the Yankees infielder clearly struggling.

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