New York Yankees shortstop Anthony Volpe is one of the most scrutinized players in Major League Baseball these days.
After beginning his fourth MLB season on the injured list, Volpe was optioned to Triple-A earlier this month at the end of his rehab stint, as starter Jose Caballero was thriving on both sides of the ball in his place. But it took less than a week for Caballero to go on the IL himself and facilitate Volpe's return to the big leagues.
For the most part, Volpe's first week back went swimmingly. He got some clutch hits, took a ton of walks, and rebounded from an error in his first game to play mostly clean defense. But during the Yankees' 2-1 loss to the Toronto Blue Jays on Wednesday night, he had something of a viral gaffe.
ANTHONY VOLPE OH NO pic.twitter.com/6iItchWnkl
— Codify (@CodifyBaseball) May 21, 2026
As you can see in the tweet posted above, Volpe initiated an ABS challenge on a 3-1 slider from Toronto reliever Tyler Rogers. The pitch location was then shown to all 40,000-plus people at Yankee Stadium, and... well...
Not only was the entire ball in the box that represents the zone at the time it crossed the plate, but it was a good two inches from even touching the inside corner. Not exactly a meatball, but a pitch that everyone watching at home immediately recognized as a strike.
The above post from Codify sat at just over 3,000 likes on X as of Thursday morning. Another post mocking Volpe, from user KutterIsKing, had over 4,500 likes at the same time.
Volpe went on to fly out on the full-count pitch, and the Yankees' late comeback attempt was thwarted, with Amed Rosario striking out to end the game with the tying run on second base. New York fell to 30-20 on the season, but can still take three of four games from the Blue Jays with a win on Thursday.
Is it perhaps mildly concerning that Volpe's strike zone judgment could ever be off by that wide a margin? Sure, but Rogers is also a completely unique pitcher, and as established, Volpe has been off to a solid start in his return to the big leagues. He may not be able to keep up his current .444 on-base percentage, but he could regain some trust if he keeps working solid at-bats.