See Anthony Volpe work with Yankees hitting coach amid 2025 struggles
Amid his 2025 struggles, Anthony Volpe works with Yankees hitting coach James Rowson before a game on Sept. 10, 2025.
BOSTON – The last time they arrived at Fenway Park, the Yankees were atop the AL East – leading Toronto by 4.5 games.In fourth place on the weekend of June 13, trailing the Yanks by 9.5 games, the Red Sox – two games under .500 – were shockingly about to trade their star slugger, Rafeal Devers, to San Francisco.
Who saw what would transpire next?
Boston’s three-game sweep that weekend resurrected its season, and the Yankees’ grip on first place began to slip.
Since then, the Yanks have posted a 39-40 record, and the Sox are 47-30, a half-game behind Aaron Boone’s club for the top AL wild card spot.
Heading into their final regular season meeting of 2025, the Yanks have lost eight of 10 games against the Red Sox this season.
“We haven’t had too much success against them, but there’s no better time to change it,’’ Aaron Judge told reporters, including MLB.com, ahead of Friday’s three-game series opener at Fenway.
Here’s a few things that need to go right for the Yankees to turn things around against the Red Sox this weekend:
Aaron Judge vs. the Green Monster
Along with Aaron Judge taking dead aim at Fenway’s famed Green Monster, Aaron Judge will also be playing in its considerable shadow.Judge is expected to play left field for the first time at Fenway, an allowance for his compromised throwing arm due to a strained flexor tendon.
Judge had exclusively been a DH since last Friday, due to his recovery from that injury.
This weekend, Judge and Giancarlo Stanton should alternate playing in left field, with Cody Bellinger covering Fenway’s more expansive right field.
There’s a nuance to playing baseballs hit off the Monster, but Judge’s ability to launch baseballs over the 37-foot wall is what counts most.
Judge is batting just .231 with a .799 OPS with three homers in 10 games against Boston this year (42 plate appearances), but he’s coming off a two-homer night in Thursday’s 9-3 win against Detroit.
And the Yankee captain’s next homer will be career No. 362, moving him past Joe DiMaggio into sole possession of fourth place on the Yankees’ all-time list, behind only Lou Gehrig (491), Mickey Mantle (536) and Babe Ruth (659).
Getting the Yankees’ bullpen on track
This has been a sore spot in the second half – a crushing reality after the MLB trade deadline moves to add Jake Bird (in the minors), Camilo Doval (6.59 ERA as a Yankee) and David Bednar.
In his first seven games since returning from the injured list (oblique) Fernando Cruz had yielded just one run in 7.2 innings, with 11 strikeouts vs. one walk.
But he lost command of his signature splitter during his last appearance, failing to record an out (charged with 5 runs) and turning a late, tie game into a Detroit Tigers rout.
Cruz will return to high leverage duty this weekend, but Doval and Mark Leiter Jr. (9.75 ERA since June 30) have been a rickety bridge to the key setup relievers.
Since July 25, both Luke Weaver (4.35) and the oft-used lone setup lefty Tim Hill (4.76) have not resembled the important figures they were in 2024, especially down the stretch and into October.
Jose Caballero and the ailing Anthony Volpe
Jose Caballero could put more of a claim on the regular shortstop position in a spotlight series.
On Thursday, it was revealed that Anthony Volpe reaggravated the left shoulder condition he’s managed since early May, making a diving catch last weekend.
Volpe is dealing with a partial labrum tear that won’t prevent him from playing; he had a cortisone shot on Wednesday.
But as Boone said earlier this week, the shortstop spot has become a day-to-day consideration, and Caballero has gone 3-for-6 while adding to his MLB-leading stolen base total over the last two games as a starter.
Over his last 32 games, Volpe has batted .145 with a .454 OPS and unsteady defensive play, which has finally triggered a change in Boone’s lineup decisions.
Solving the Red Sox’s best starters
In order, the Yankees are due to start Luis Gil, Max Fried and Will Warren this weekend, while Boston counters with Lucas Giolito, Brayan Bello and lefty Garrett Crochet.
Solving either Bello or Crochet would go a long way toward having a successful weekend.
Yankees batters have been utterly helpless against Bello, who has blanked them across 14 innings in two starts – the latest on Aug. 22, a 1-0 Boston win at Yankee Stadium.
In Crochet’s last start versus the Yankees, Aug. 23, the lefty held them to one run – a Giancarlo Stanton homer – across seven innings, with 11 strikeouts in a 12-1 Boston romp.