New York Yankees manager Aaron Boone’s defense of shortstop Anthony Volpe for a play Volpe attempted in Friday’s game left many fans shocked.
The Yankees were trailing 1-0 to the Boston Red Sox in the 9th inning of Friday’s game at Yankee Stadium in New York, N.Y. The Red Sox had a runner at second with nobody out when a ground ball was hit directly to Volpe.
Instead of simply taking the out at first, Volpe tried to catch Jarren Duran leaning off second. That did not work, and enabled Ceddanne Rafaela to beat out the throw to first, meaning the play led to no outs at all.
what? pic.twitter.com/dmPEDffWlG
— Talkin' Yanks (@TalkinYanks) August 23, 2025
Asked about the play after the game, Boone admitted that Volpe had made the wrong play, but tried to credit his shortstop for a heads-up move.
“You see the guy off. Jazz (Chisholm) is breaking in there, and he thinks he has a play,” Boone said. “It was obviously not the right play, but it’s a little bit of a heady play, too. He almost caught a guy off in scoring position there.
“Are we going to really dive into that one a lot? I get it, it was an out, but it was kind of heads-up. Almost got a guy napping.”
I am stunned every single time Boone gets behind a mic to talk about Volpe pic.twitter.com/ZeQEJHa9Mm
— Soxologist (@Soxologist) August 23, 2025
Yankees fans were stunned that Boone was defending Volpe for a pretty obvious mental error, and many found his explanation to be nonsensical.
‘He did the wrong thing but also the right thing’
— StantonIsKing (@StantonIsKing1) August 23, 2025
Volpe can shoot Judge, and Boone will defend him. 😂
— Roberto Santos (@armani174174) August 23, 2025
I need someone to believe in me like Boone believes in Volpe. That play in the ninth was awful. And he is out here defending the play like it’s routine. He can’t be serious. This is the issue people have with him. We know the play is bad and he’s yapping. Come on.
— Randy Wilkins (@pamsson) August 23, 2025
If it’s not the right play it’s not a heady play. Gimme a break.
— Gabby Gordon (@GabbyGordonOnX) August 23, 2025
Part of the problem with Boone’s explanation is that there was no force play at second. Volpe would have had to throw the ball to Jazz Chisholm covering the bag, who would have then had to tag Duran out. That requires a lot of things to go right when Duran was not that far off the bag to begin with. The smart and obvious decision for Volpe would have just been to hold the runner at second and take the out at first.
Ultimately, Duran’s run did not come around to score, so it did not factor in the outcome of what ultimately turned into a 1-0 Yankee loss. Still, Boone’s response will further the perception among many Yankee fans that he is simply too soft on his players. He has bristled at that perception before, but things like this are not going to change it.
