Whether it is fair or unfair, the New York Yankees have been under a microscope more than any other team in baseball for quite some time now. And it seems as if Yankees manager Aaron Boone is beginning to grow tired with how his team is covered. Especially when it comes to Yankees shortstop Anthony Volpe.
Volpe has been under fire for the majority of the season for his struggles at the plate, hitting just .214 on the season. But after Monday’s game against the the Toronto Blue Jays, it was Volpe’s glove that was the area he was critiqued for after committing a crucial error that brought home a run for the Blue Jays in a 4-1 victory over the Yankees.
Aaron Boone was asked about Volpe’s inconsistencies in the field this season after what was his 12th error on the season in Monday’s game, which is tied for the fourth most in all of baseball. And ultimately, Boone chalked it up to “a few extra errors” that have changed the narrative around Volpe as a player.
“Yeah, I mean, we’re talking about a few extra errors,” Boone told reporters after Monday’s game. “I get it, that’s the separator of when he wins a gold glove and when he’s not. He’s still a top shortstop. He hasn’t made a few plays that have generated a lot of noise. He’s still making a lot of rangy plays. He’s still making a lot of plays. He just hasn’t been as consistent as he has in his first two years. That’s 3 or 4 plays we’re talking about. And a couple of games here where he hasn’t completed some plays has changed his overall defensive season.”
Aaron Boone says “a few plays” have created the negative narrative around Anthony Volpe’s defense this season
“He’s still a top shortstop.” pic.twitter.com/VlikpajatS
— Talkin’ Yanks (@TalkinYanks) July 22, 2025
On Tuesday, Aaron Boone made his weekly appearance on Jomboy Media’s Talkin’ Yanks podcast where he debriefs about where the state of the Yankees is from week to week. And naturally, Volpe’s fielding woes were a talking point, as was the topic of whether Boone serves as “too big of a shield” for Volpe and should perhaps place more accountability on him.
Despite the advanced metrics suggesting Volpe’s defense truly has taken a drastic downturn this season, which Jomboy and co-host Jake Storiale pointed out to Boone, Boone largely echoed his sentiments from Monday night by declaring that Volpe is still an elite defender.
“He set a high standard and a high bar,” said Boone, alluding to Volpe’s gold glove award in his rookie season. “He is still that defender. He’s made three of four more mistakes this year that have led to not being at the level of the first two years.”
Later, the conversation would shift to the Yankees struggles against their AL East opponents this season. And while Boone had several different factors that he believed played a role in this, Jake Storiale insinuated based on Monday’s game that the Blue Jays simply “wanted it more” in that one particular game.
“Okay, Boonie,” said Storiale. “I bring it back to fandom. You are an Eagles fan. If there is an Eagles game and it’s Sunday Night Football and it’s the Cowboys and both teams have a good record, that game has extra juice. That’s sports. So I guess that’s where I see Vladdy Superman flying across home plate yesterday and I am like ‘They are playing like this matters’. It’s the fan conundrum of, ‘I know you aren’t going into a game being like we aren’t going to try as hard today.’ But games have extra juice.”
“Yeah, okay… So, Vladdy diving means they wanted it more last night?” replied Boone. “Come on, be better than that. Understand the pestering, bantering, leading questions that are being asked of our guys. And I don’t want them to just fly off the handle and be emotional. We’ve been pretty good over the years of compartmentalizing and dealing with the everyday grind of the regular season and playing in New York, and you start getting emotional and going down that road, it’s a bad trait.”
It’s beautiful pic.twitter.com/OR7vChRIIB
— 🇨🇦Mr Bond (@ATKINSnCrewOut) July 22, 2025
Jomboy then brought up the point that Yankees closer Luke Weaver was open and honest about his recent struggles, a trait he would like to see from more Yankees players and perhaps even Boone. And Boone responded by telling Jomboy that “everyone is different” in how they approach answering media questions.
“Everyone’s different. Stop with the reaction of how a guy answers a frickin’ question. Seriously,” Boone said. “We gotta win. Okay? We are obsessed with it and hell-bent preparation-wise and guys give a rip. Some people will give you colorful answers. Some guys throw their helmet. Does that make you feel good? Some guys are calm. Like, stop it. It doesn’t mean a guy cares more or less because he dives into home plate. It’s you’ve gotta be angry at something because we didn’t win.”
Despite Aaron Boone clearly being quite adamant that the Yankees do have plenty of urgency in each in every game, Jomboy further told the Yankees manager that the urgency he claims that his team has simply hasn’t shown as of late. And Boone simply declared that he simply “doesn’t care” what Jomboy wants from the team he manages. It’s not the first time he’s grown combative with the podcast host.
“I don’t care what you want,” said Boone. “These are answers of pestering, everyday questions. I want our guys in a good like, boom. We are locked in, when it’s s*itty and when it’s really good, and all in between. I want us locked. I want us showing up every day ready to prepare and ready to go. Period. It’s a hard game.”
Credit to Jomboy for asking Aaron Boone the hard questions that Yankees fans want answers for. But, ultimately, the manager does have in a point in a sense, as there are really only so many ways to justify team struggles when the questions on the topic are essentially on a daily basis.
As a former media member himself, Boone knows better than anyone that when things are going bad in New York, the struggles are amplified to an extent that can certainly become overwhelming. But by the sounds of things, it doesn’t sound like Boone is nearly as worried about his team as some Yankee fans are.