What a Subway Series it’s turning out to be for Anthony Volpe.
He entered it in the midst of a wretched stretch that stood out even for a player prone to lengthy slumps.
Then, things took another turn in a 12-6 loss to the Mets on Saturday, as the Yankees dropped their sixth straight game and are now on the verge of being swept out of Citi Field.
To make matters worse, Volpe nearly took out Aaron Judge with a meaningless throw after the fourth inning.
As the Yankees jogged off the field following the bottom of the fourth, Volpe, already past third base and in foul territory, launched a throw in the direction of Judge — who was coming in from right field.
Unfortunately for Judge and the Yankees, he wasn’t looking and he got drilled near his right eye.
The ball broke Judge’s sunglasses and left him bleeding near the eye as he picked up the shattered pieces of his eyewear.
After a quick top of the fifth, with Volpe flying out to center for the second out, Judge returned to the field for the bottom of the fifth with a bandage near the eye.
Aaron Boone said his immediate reaction was “confusion.”
“I didn’t know what happened initially,” Boone said. “I just saw what felt like something happened. Of course I was concerned. [Judge] had a little cut. In the end, I don’t think it’s anything too serious. Initially, obviously very concerned.”
Volpe, asked if he felt helpless as he saw the ball head toward Judge, said: “Obviously.”
Judge said he was fine after the game.
Volpe tried to atone for his mistake with a solo homer with one out in the top of the seventh that got the Yankees back to within two runs. It was Volpe’s 10th home run of the season and first since June 21.
But the Mets tacked on four more runs in the bottom of the inning and when Volpe came up with two on and two out in the eighth, he whiffed against Ryne Stanek, helping to seal another Yankee defeat.
On top of the Yankees’ recent difficulty winning games, Volpe’s struggles have shown few signs of abating.
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On Friday, Volpe was replaced by pinch hitter Trent Grisham in the top of the ninth of a one-run game that the Yankees went on to lose.
“The competitor in you wants to be out there and help the team and you feel like you can, but those things are out of my control,’’ Volpe said Friday of the move. “What is [in my control] is just putting in the work and earning those at-bats. Earning every at-bat.”
He’s now in a 6-for-44 skid with six walks and 12 strikeouts over his past dozen games.
— Additional reporting by Greg Joyce