New York Yankees shortstop Anthony Volpe is going to miss the start of the 2026 season after undergoing surgery Tuesday to repair a partially torn labrum in his elbow.
That manager Aaron Boone and general manager Brian Cashman can agree on.
Everything else is murky.
The Yankees’ brain trust put forth mixed messages on Volpe’s injury, which he played with throughout the season, and even missed five games because of it in September.
“I don’t think it was impacting his performance,” Boone said.
“I think the injury probably contributed to the performance season that he wound up having more so than we would have thought,” Cashman said just moments later.
Nothing like being on the same page after a dismal showing in the ALDS and a premature exit from the postseason that was supposed to feature a legitimate push toward a pennant and a return to the World Series.
Instead, they were dominated by the Toronto Blue Jays, and Volpe was just one of the many assets that struggled during the four-game series loss. He went 1-for-15 with 11 strikeouts, which was even more disappointing than his regular season.
The 24-year-old New York native batted .212 with a .663 OPS, while making a league-worst 19 errors at shortstop. He has now had three seasons of runway in the Bronx, and there is no evidence that things are going to get better.
Yet Cashman and Boone are keeping the faith in him, which is on brand for a team that has underachieved for the majority of the skipper’s eight-year tenure and the last 16 years under their general manager.
“I believe in the player still,” Cashman said. “It doesn’t mean that we don’t play with, on any level, all aspects of roster assessments [this offseason]. He’s 24 years old. I don’t think the New York stage is too big for him. I think he’s just finding his way.”
Boone is already relaying the hope that Tuesday’s surgery will rectify some things, performance-wise, moving forward. Volpe cannot swing a bat for four months and cannot dive on it for another six, meaning he will begin the 2026 campaign on the injured list.
“This is something you can play with and play through, but the finality of getting it fixed hopefully frees him up to dive on it the way he’s going to dive on it and make the next level of plays that Anthony makes,” Boone said. “Hopefully, when you’re fixing something that’s hurt on the body, it does help performance go to another level.”
