Attn. Volpe Haters and Lovers:

Anthony Volpe came into the 2023 season as both a very highly regarded prospect, and the Yankees starting shortstop. For far too many reasons to list here – probably the disappointing season on the team level at the top of the list – opinions and judgments varied greatly on Volpe throughout the season, and still do.

Now that the dust has settled, let’s look back at Volpe’s rookie season with as little emotion as emotional fans are capable of.

Overall, Volpe ended the 2023 season with 1.9 fWAR, which…is not good. Baseball Reference liked him a little more than FanGraphs but Baseball Prospectus liked him a lot less (we’ll come back to that). For some perspective, 2022 Yankees’ shortstop Isiah Kiner-Falefa, accrued 1.5 fWAR in 70 fewer plate appearances than Volpe had in ’23.

Volpe’s defense at shortstop was average in ‘23. Among 20 qualified shortstops he ranked 13^th in defensive runs above average and in fielding run value he ranked 10^th out of 16 shortstops with a minimum 1,000 innings. (If we’re being fair, calling him “average” defensively is a Volpe friendly assessment.) More specifically, his range was measured as above average by both FanGraphs and Savant, but his arm strength is well below average for the position.

Volpe as a baserunner was outstanding over the season’s first half (3.2 base running runs above average) and average over the season’s second half (0.4 runs above average). Over 162 games that is a good baserunner, but that – even when combined with the plus range at a premium position – can’t overcome the lack of production in the batter’s box.

Volpe posted an 84 wRC+ on the season, not quite reaching 2022 IKF level of 86. Again, the wRC+ is a Volpe friendly assessment as his OPS+ was 81 and his DRC+ was a cringeworthy 74 – by far the worst among Yankee regulars and also lower than the likes of Willie Calhoun, Josh Donaldson, Harrison Bader and Jose Trevino.

Quite simply, Volpe had the rather large problem of striking out regularly, without the K neutralizing benefits of drawing walks or hitting with power – Volpe did neither in 2023. (Which is why Prospectus is so low on him…)

Among his teammates, only Giancarlo Stanton had a K%-BB% worse than Volpe’s among Yankees regulars, but unlike Volpe, Stanton had a SLG better than league average. For those of you who remember Josh Donaldson and Aaron Hicks as Yankees in 2023, both struck out at a lower rate than Volpe.

But that’s the Yankees, who weren’t very good offensively – let’s look league wide.

Among 133 MLB players with enough PA to qualify for the batting title, Volpe posted…

The 132^nd lowest OBP*.
The 115^th lowest SLG.
The 14^th highest K%-BB%.
The 13^th highest K%.

(*If you’re curious about the OBP, Javier Baez was the only MLB player who was easier for pitchers to get out than Anthony Volpe in 2023.)

I know I started off by saying we’d leave emotion out of it but it’s impossible to look at those numbers and not have an unpleasant emotional reaction because that is awful. Batters need to either get on base (OBP) or advance runners (SLG) – good hitters do one or the other, great hitters do both.

Volpe does neither.

What does all this mean?

It means if you’re saying that Volpe should remain the starting shortstop in 2024 and will be a very good player by 2025, I wouldn’t argue with you – but that doesn’t mean those statements aren’t open to serious debate because both can be called into question. (Especially when you consider Baseball Prospectus’ numbers above, which rely more on player performance than results.)

Regardless of projections, it also means that if you’re trying to frame Volpe’s rookie season in any sort of positive manner, you’re not being intellectually honest. There are no lies above – in 2023 he was a great baserunner for half the season, an average defender, and a liability in the batter’s box. There’s nothing to draw good emotions from there, so it’s OK to stop trying.

Did I miss something? Let me know. Leave a comment below or yell at me @mybaseballpage1 on Twitter and/or the “My Baseball Page” on Facebook.