I would not send Anthony Volpe to the minors to clear his head and work on his swing. But I would if in charge convene a meeting of my baseball people to see if they differed with me and thought a player who did only have 22 games of Triple-A experience before becoming the starting Yankees shortstop might benefit from work away from a pennant race. So I called the guy who actually would have to convene such a meeting to see his thoughts on if Volpe and, thus, the Yankees, would get something out of a mental and tactical reset for their shortstop. Yankees shortstop Anthony Volpe reacts after striking out against the White Sox on Aug. 12, 2024. Kamil Krzaczynski-USA TODAY Sports We havent talked about it, Brian Cashman said by phone. I feel like, by far, we believe in him and, yes, his development continues at the major league level. There are growing pains, obviously, when you pull the ripcord on somebodys opportunity early, which he did earn [a starting job in spring 2023], but hes still finding his way. But also hes by far our best player at that position [shortstop] and you could argue hes our best player by far in our infield. So, no, theres never been a consideration to sending him down. Hes working through everything in a thoughtful way. Hes working his tail off. And again, our opinion of him and his ability to eventually reach his ceilings are still intact. I believe in Volpe too, that at minimum he is going to be a winning a set even if he falls short of being a star. But I asked about considering a minor league pitstop and in my view it would be a refresher pitstop and not a punishment and nothing close to permanent because for the first time in his two Yankee seasons, it has seemed like on the 23-year-old. The other reason is because Volpe does not tend to go into slumps, as much as extended offensive death spirals that take weeks for him to pull out from. Yankees general manager Brian Cashman. Charles Wenzelberg / New York Post It [hitting] is tough, arguably the toughest thing in all sports, Cashman said. I understand that. We understand that. His ebbs and flows are obviously what they are. But our belief in the player and that hes a foundational piece are also there. We think hes the solution and not part of the current problem. I understand it is fair to ask any and all questions, but I am here to reinforce that our belief in him is steadfast. Volpe won a Gold Glove as a rookie in 2023 and hit Nolan Schanuel Jersey 21 homers and stole 25 bases and showed durability by playing the 13th-most innings in the field (1,346 /) and the second-most behind Francisco Lindor at shortstop. But he hit just .209 with a .283 on-base percentage and a 27.8 strikeout percentage. He invested he hoped would lead to using the whole field more to, among other items, boost his average and lower his strikeout rate. And going into Tuesday nights game, Volpe was hitting .247 with a 22.3 percent strikeout rate, which put him right near MLB average of .244 and 22.4. And he still had 20 steals and durability, having played the most innings in the field of anybody. But his walk and homer rates and hard-hit percentage were all down considerably. Yankees shortstop Anthony Volpe hits a single against the Tigers on Aug. 17, 2024. Getty Images And the rollercoaster of performance has been extreme, especially with how long the lulls last. Consider just his batting average fluctuations. In his first 16 games, he hit .373; in his next 19, he hit .158; the next 27, it was .333; the 35 after that, it was .171; in his next 15, back up to .359; and in his last 12 through the weekend, all the way down at .109. Hes making adjustments and he continues to make adjustments and we are in lockstep with that, Cashman said. But we know he is making changes on the run. We know hes growing and emerging. So I know what you are asking [about a short minor league stint], but it is not something we are considering. I would acknowledge and restate that he is our shortstop and we dont feel we need to send him down to Triple-A to get a reset. We believe strongly that hes going to be here and stay here and help us win games. I think hes done that already and I do think theres more gas in the tank there. But thats true about a lot of our guys at the same time. Helped by his baserunning and defense, Volpes 2.9 Wins Above Replacement was 49th among position players, which is good. But it was tied with Colorados Ezequiel Tovar and San Diegos Ha-Seong Kim for 12th best among shortstops and that does not include Mookie Betts, who played a lot of shortstop this year, but now has switched back to right field, or Jackson Merrill, a shortstop by trade who is playing center for the Padres. So are you an a set if you are arguably among the 50 best position players, but ? I believe hes a high a set, Cashman said. I think this is a hard city to play in and I have no doubts about his ability to play in it. I have no doubt about his ability to help us win in it. Im glad that hes available for our manager to be writing him in the lineup on a daily basis. I think if he were taken off line from us for even, say, an injury, we would be scrambling a little bit more for who [Aaron Boone] would write in. I think he will impact us more in a positive way while also knowing the future is even brighter. Luis Torres Jersey