Is the Anthony Volpe experience over?

The New York Yankees finally made their first tough decision of the season after Sunday’s 11-3 victory over Baltimore, pulling shortstop Anthony Volpe off of his rehab assignment and assigning him to the minor leagues.

Volpe tore the labrum in his left shoulder last season and played through it before offseason surgery. He hit .250 with a home run and a .624 OPS in 13 rehab games; nine at Double-A Somerset, four at Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre, where he’ll play in the time being.

This is quite the unprecedented move, especially based on how the Yankees have operated in the past. How often were Aaron Hicks and Josh Donaldson put into the lineup despite being consistent net negatives? Or DJ LeMahieu? Alex Verdugo? Automatic outs, yet their paychecks and/or ability to draw overall meaningless walks kept them in the lineup.

Granted, all of those players mentioned were earning millions upon millions of dollars, so the Yankees automatically kind of owed it to themselves to try and get blood from a stone. Especially in the sudden pivot to a non-juiced baseball season. Volpe, by comparison, only just entered his first arbitration year and will earn close to $3.5 million in 2026.

But no. Anthony Volpe will remain an expensive minor leaguer and we can look no further than teammate Jose Caballero as to why. Caballero is batting .259 with a fairly average 99 wRC+, but leads all shortstops with a +7 defensive runs saved (DRS). He also leads the American League with 13 stolen bases and is cheaper than Volpe at $2 million this season. Caballero also has three arbitration years remaining compared to Volpe’s two.

By comparison, Volpe has three full big league seasons under his belt and only an 85 wRC+ to show for it. His offensive WAR is an abysmal -24. His defense, which earned him a Gold Glove as a rookie in 2023, has gotten progressively worse. Volpe only posted a +2 DRS last season with a career worst -7 outs above average (OAA) and a -5 fielding run value (FRV).

“Caballero is playing the heck out of the position and playing really well,” manager Aaron Boone said before Sunday’s game. “That complicates it.”

Does it though? Maybe from a PR standpoint. Everyone remembers the 2023 media circus over Volpe making the big league team out of spring training despite just 22 games at Triple-A ball the previous year. Local kid born in New York and a first-round draft pick out of New Jersey high school baseball factory Delbarton Academy. “Next Derek Jeter” being tossed around like a beach ball at Warped Tour ’05.

Except…was Anthony Volpe ever supposed to match the Captain’s talent to begin with? Well, after being drafted 30th overall in 2019, Volpe was the Yankees’ No. 9 prospect headed into 2020. Looking at MLB.com’s scouting report from then, even taking into account Volpe’s recovering from mono the previous year, it doesn’t paint a bright picture.

“More advanced than most teenagers at the plate,” it reads, “Volpe employs a compact right-handed swing and laces line drives from gap to gap. He has some bat speed and could develop double-digit home run power, though he understands his focus is getting on base.”

Volpe then spent a few seasons bulking up and got himself to where he was at least a 20-home run threat on paper. And, to be fair, he slugged 21 taters as a rookie. Then, he dipped to 12 in ’24 before yo-yoing back up to 19 last season.

Even then, it’s hard to justify starting someone with an 85 wRC+.

Anyway, we’ve rambled enough with the stats and scout-speak. The fact of the matter is that Anthony Volpe was rushed. Plain and simple. He wasn’t ready. He’s still clearly recovering from the surgery. Or maybe this is just his new normal? Injuring his shoulder and playing through it last season means we’ll never quite know how much the torpedo bat helped him.

All this to say, Anthony Volpe has played his way out of the lineup and back down to Scranton. And his road back to the Bronx isn’t without some traffic. His new teammate down at Triple-A is George Lombard Jr. A fellow shortstop. Who also happens to be 20 years old whereas Volpe just turned 25. And, as Volpe was a lifetime ago, the Yankees’ current No. 1 prospect.

Lombard is only batting .235 in four Triple-A games, but .298 on the year with four home runs. With Caballero playing well and the Yankees sitting atop the American League at 23-11, safe to say Brian Cashman will leave Lombard–and now Volpe–right where they are.