Anthony Volpe’s rough season got even worse Friday in a 1-0 loss to the Red Sox.
Not only did the shortstop go hitless again to extend his slump to 1-for-25, he got booed after a strikeout in the eighth and made a mental error at shortstop an inning later.
Volpe’s miscue at short in the top of the ninth of a one-run game came with Jarren Duran on second.
Ceddanne Rafaela hit a grounder to Volpe and instead of making the routine throw to first, Volpe threw behind Duran to Jazz Chisholm Jr. at second.
Duran was safe and Rafaela beat Chisholm’s throw to first.
The play went as a fielder’s choice, but Volpe’s 16 errors is the highest in the league.
“It was obviously not the right play, but it was a little bit of a heady play, too,’’ Aaron Boone said, somewhat in defense of his shortstop.
Boone noted that there was a “gap” between Duran and Chisholm.
Still, it’s a play that can’t be made at that point.
Volpe followed with a solid throw home to get Duran at the plate on a contact play later in the inning.
The shortstop’s slump is just as alarming.
He has 10 strikeouts in his last 25 at-bats and when he whiffed against Garrett Whitlock for the second out in the bottom of the eighth, Volpe heard some relatively loud boos.
“He hasn’t swung it great the last week,” Boone said. “The last two days, he’s just missed a couple pitches and then he had some confused swings. We’ve got to get him going again offensively.”
Only six players have a worse OPS than Volpe’s .680 mark since June 12.
And his .171 average is the worst among 162 qualified hitters in the same span.
Prior to the game, hitting coach James Rowson said Volpe’s performance at the plate hasn’t been as bad as the recent numbers would indicate.
“It shows up sometimes as he doesn’t have hits in a certain number of at-bats, but it’s not purely about results,’’ Rowson said. “His at-bats over the last month or so have been really good. The results have to be there, too, and there haven’t been a lot of hits, but he’s not doing much different than when he was locked in earlier in the season.”
To Rowson’s point, an argument could be made that Volpe has hit into some bad luck, with a .167 BABIP since Aug. 2, compared to his .272 career mark and .241 number for this season.
Boone said there was no update on when Aaron Judge may be able to play the outfield as he deals with a right flexor strain that’s limited him to DH duties.
Jonathan Loáisiga is scheduled to see Dr. Keith Meister on Tuesday as the right-hander could be headed toward another elbow surgery. Loáisiga has appeared in 30 games this season, but was on the IL with back tightness prior to the elbow injury.
Fernando Cruz (oblique) gave up a run in 1 ¹/₃ innings in a rehab appearance with Double-A Somerset.
Boone said he considered pinch-hitting Amed Rosario for Trent Grisham against Aroldis Chapman in the ninth, but decided against it.
Rosario is 3-for-7 with two homers against the lefty, while Grisham is now 0-for-3 with three strikeouts.
Austin Wells has seen his playing time dip recently, a result of his struggles at the plate, as well as the emergence of Ben Rice at catcher.
“Ben has earned more opportunities there,’’ Boone said of Rice, who was at first Friday. “Wells has gone through struggles the last few weeks… We know what Austin is capable of and it’s a product of Rice pushing in and [having Paul] Goldschmidt at first.”
Wells was coming off a game in which he homered twice against the Rays.
“Hopefully, Wells gets a little traction offensively,’’ Boone said.
Austin Slater (left hamstring strain) has started baseball activities and did drills in the outfield Friday, but Boone said there was no updated timeline for his return.
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