Brian Cashman reaffirms Yankees' commitment to rookie Anthony Volpe

Anthony Volpe isn’t going anywhere.

Not for a while, anyway.

Yankees GM Brian Cashman, speaking to the media before his  slumping team took the field against the Mariners Tuesday night at the Stadium, reaffirmed the organization’s commitment to the 22-year-old rookie shortstop, who won the spring training competition to much fanfare.

“We made the decision to go with Volpe and he earned that right with his play (in the spring),” Cashman said. “We stated it was a long-term commitment, that we were going to go with him and allow him to develop.”

But, along with some occasional highs, it’s been mostly growing pains for Volpe, who came into Tuesday hitting .189 with nine homers and a .614 OPS in 72 games. In the spring, he beat out fellow hyped rookie prospect Oswald Peraza, who currently is hitting well with Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre. That has some fans clamoring for a move to be made.

“That’s not something we’re … discussing at all,” Cashman said.

The longtime GM, whose Aaron Judge-less team entered Tuesday having lost four straight and eight of their last 11, indicated the offensive difficulties the team is going through shouldn’t fall on the rookie’s plate.

“Right now, obviously, we need our offense to do better, but ultimately we’re not relying, per se, on one of the rookies to be filling in a gap, so to speak,” Cashman said. “This offense is going to be geared up if the people that we’re used to seeing are doing what they’re more than capable of doing. He’ll (Volpe) get his sea legs under him, we have no doubt about that, and he’ll join the party as a contributing member more so that not. He’s contributing to us in smaller ways, but there’s obviously a bigger portion of his game that we look forward to seeing as the season plays out. But we’re not shying away from Anthony Volpe. We believe in him, we’re invested in him, and we know there’s a payoff there for us as long as we walk that tightrope with him.”  

Volpe, as Cashman said, is far from the only culprit contributing to the offense’s futility.

The Yankees, after getting swept by the Red Sox over the weekend at Fenway Park, fell to 4-8 in Judge’s absence, with key players Anthony Rizzo, Giancarlo Stanton, DJ LeMahieu and Josh Donaldson going 16-for-138 (.116) in that span.

“Those specific guys are really good hitters,” Cashman said. “But it’s a real grind and a tough season at times and this is part of it. We will grind through it. Living through it doesn’t make it any easier. Am I happy with their approach? I’m happy with their commitment, happy with their care and, ultimately, I know I’ll be happy with their end results. But right now we’re struggling. We just have to fight through it.”

Cashman did admit to having some “concern” with the performance of LeMahieu, who was given Tuesday night off and will likely get Wednesday off as well to continue working through one of the worst slumps of his career. LeMahieu, who last played Sunday in the first game of a doubleheader, entered Tuesday 14-for-86 (.163) in his last 23 games, which dropped the two-time batting champion’s season average to .232 (with a .679 OPS).

Regardless of his slump, or the others, manager Aaron Boone said it’s the “track record” of those veterans that has him convinced things will turn.

“I know guys, especially in the middle of that lineup, are going to hit and get it going,” Boone said. “I feel like we have a number of those guys. I know I’ve been saying it over and over the last few days – the lineups we’re running out there are very capable. We just have to get a few guys going. That’s going to be the key and I believe they will.”   

Cashman, in calling Judge a “big piece” to the offense, doesn’t believe the Yankees are over-reliant on the reigning American League MVP.

“I understand why you ask the question because ultimately with Judge down now and Judge down earlier (his first IL stint in early May), our offense was completely different,” Cashman said. “Hopefully, that’s more of an aberration. It’s an acknowledgement that we miss him, but there’s also acknowledgement that we have a lot of pro hitters that are more than capable and right now they’re just struggling.”

By Erik Boland

erik.boland@newsday.comeboland11

Erik Boland started in Newsday's sports department in 2002. He covered high school and college sports, then shifted to the Jets beat. He has covered the Yankees since 2009.