Yankees' Anthony Volpe is Already Getting Blasted After Demotion

The New York Yankees sent struggling shortstop Anthony Volpe down to Triple-A earlier this month after promoting George Lombard Jr. from the minor leagues.

Volpe is trying his hand at second base in the minors, so perhaps he can find new life and re-establish himself as a piece on the Yankees' roster moving forward.

Or, he can continue making news for the wrong reasons.

During the RailRiders game on Wednesday night, Volpe wasted both of the team's ABS challenges during the first at-bat of the contest.

Both pitches were clear strikes, and the first came on a 3-0 count. And again ... it was the first at-bat of the game.

The Yankees' Triple-A announcers didn't waste any time getting on Volpe's case, and play-by-play commentator Adam Marco made it clear that the RailRiders surely weren't happy with Volpe's decision.

"He's got a big smile on his face, I'm going to guess the other 27 guys on the team aren't real happy right now," Marco said.

You have to feel for Volpe, who went from winning a Gold Glove as a rookie in 2023 and appearing to be New York's shortstop of the future to being minor-league fodder.

Volpe missed the first portion of the 2026 campaign while recovering from offseason shoulder surgery. He returned in May and slashed .240/.325/.322 with one home run and 19 RBI over 194 plate appearances before being sent down.

It was nice that the 25-year-old significantly improved his walk rate, but his power numbers absolutely plummeted, and it was becoming more and more obvious that Volpe was not much of an asset in the Yankees' lineup.

The fact that Lombard has dazzled since coming up to the big leagues (he already has more homers than Volpe this season) hasn't helped Volpe's case.

Because Jazz Chisholm is likely a goner in free agency after the season, Volpe may have a good chance of winning the starting second base job next spring.

However, there is also a chance that New York will make a big offseason move — like signing Luis Arraez, for example — to fill that gap.

Volpe has a long road ahead of him, and it is sadly possible that we have seen the last of the hometown kid in pinstripes.