Yankees news: Yanks befuddled trying to fix Volpe
The Athletic | Chris Kirschner: Much has been made of Anthony Volpe’s struggles this season and his general inability to be consistent, but Kirschner gets into the long form on the situation and the concerning answer that the Yankees have to it: they don’t know what the cause is. Now, this is mostly the PR answer to deflect towards his dedication to working on a solution that simply hasn’t come yet, but the underlying message is that they haven’t figured out what tweak or adjustment can be made to get him to be more even-keeled at the plate. They have confidence that he will eventually, but nothing’s going at the moment.
Volpe did return to the starting lineup after missing the last two games, going 0-for-4 with one strikeout. We’ll see if the latest respite is the secret fix for his woes this year, but barring that it’s up in the air what the answer ends up being for the 24-year-old shortstop.
CBS Sports | Julian McWilliams: The Yankees are in the middle of the postseason field right now, which isn’t something you can take for granted given how their year has gone. However, they could be much higher up if they didn’t seem to fall apart collectively whenever they’re facing a relevant contender, and despite a deadline season that attempted to address it one of the main flaws of this team is still defense. It’s been the case since their pennant run last season, but it’s gotten more and more exposed as teams become aware of the weakness and has contributed to many of their losses to divisional foes and other division leaders. The only way to fix it now is through self-discipline and improvement, which is worrisome, but if they manage to flip the script when it matters most all would be forgiven.
KCTV | Julia Scammahorn: The Negro Leagues have announced their latest inductees to their Hall of Game, honoring a class that will include former Yankee Willie Randolph. Randolph played 13 seasons in New York between 1976-88, earning five All-Star nods during that stretch, and though he never played in the Negro Leagues he was an icon in the sport and the first Black manager in New York’s MLB history when he got the job with the Mets in 2005. He’ll be enshrined in a class that includes Dusty Baker, Cito Gaston, and Jerry Manuel on October 4th in Kansas City.
NY Daily News | Gary Phillips: In case you missed it, MLB dropped the 2026 regular season schedule yesterday, and there are some fun highlight points. The Yankees will kick off the season before anyone else, facing off with the Giants on March 25th, and they have a 9/11 matchup with the Mets on the 25th anniversary of the September 11th attacks. Our own Peter Brody shared his thoughts on the Yanks’ schedule as well, if you’d like a look at some of the season-long aspects.
UPI | Ben Hooper: Lastly, in some lighthearted news Topps has released a trading card for the squirrel that strutted out to meet Max Fried on the mound on Saturday. It was selling as a collector’s item for $8.99 and sold out instantly, so check back in a few months to see if it took off in the community at all. Given that it ultimately didn’t end up meeting the status of Rally Squirrel, perhaps not, but it was a fun moment nonetheless.
