A Fork In The Road Moment for Two NY Baseball Youngsters…

All in With John Jastremski

Let’s take you back to the summer of 2023, a very under whelming baseball summer in this town I might add… 

Both the Yankees and the Mets called upon two of the top prospects in the sport to the big leagues. 

The Yankees named Anthony Volpe the Opening Day shortstop to start the season. The Mets promoted Francisco Alvarez on April 7th, a few days later. 

At times throughout their rookie campaigns, there was great debate amongst New York baseball fans regarding who you would rather have. 

The hope was that both Volpe and Alvarez would be legitimate cornerstone baseball players in this town for years to come. 

Fast forward to the midway point of the 2025 season and there are far more questions than answers when it comes to both players. 

Francisco Alvarez was absolutely lost at both the plate and behind the dish since his return from injury. 

The Mets were put in a position where it became obvious he was no longer helping the club at the big league level. 

With Luis Torrens being able to handle the bulk of the catching duties, the Mets sent Alvarez down to Triple A Syracuse on Sunday. 

It was a necessary move for a young player who has lost his way. 

What happened to the power hitting rookie sensation that we saw just two years ago? Despite last year seeing offensive regression, you could count on quality defense from Alvarez. 

So far in 2025, you’ve gotten none of the above. 

The Yankees are in a different predicament with shortstop Anthony Volpe. He hasn’t been as unplayable as Alvarez and the Yankees clearly don’t have a better option at the moment, but make no mistake – it’s time to worry about Anthony Volpe. 

He’s way too streaky as both a hitter and a fielder. There are times you watch Volpe and it looks like he’s about to turn a corner and ascend into a big time big league shortstop. 

Then, right as you’re about to believe he’s finally found it, Volpe regresses dramatically. 

Volpe won a gold glove in 2023, but his defense this year has been underwhelming. 

He leads American League shortstops in errors and it sure feels like the bigger the situation at both the plate and in the field, the less confident you are in his ability to do the job. 

The challenge for Anthony Volpe three years into his career offensively is figuring out what exactly he is as a player. 

His first year he hit for a decent amount of power and sacrificed batting average. 

Last year, he hit for a higher average with zero power. 

He needs to unlock and define what he is as a player in order to go and take that next step. 

As of right now, he looks like a middle of the road shortstop. 

That’s not what the Yankees and their fans had in mind a few seasons ago. 

For both Alvarez and Volpe, it’s fair to say they are both at that classic fork in the road moment as a big leaguer. 

Alvarez has to deal with the ramifications of being sent down and for Volpe it’s the idea of finding legitimate consistency. 

Almost three seasons into their big league careers, it’s shaping up to be that now or never moment for both. 

Let’s see if Volpe and Alvarez are up for the challenge.