What to expect from Yanks' Volpe in big leagues

The expectation all along was that a rookie would win the Yankees' shortstop job this spring. After Oswald Peraza played well during a September callup and claimed a spot on the American League Championship Series roster, he looked like the logical choice.

But Anthony Volpe has a tendency to exceed expectations, and he did it again in Spring Training. So at age 21, he'll be New York's youngest Opening Day starter since Derek Jeter in 1996.

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“There’s an energy he plays the game with, and an instinct that he has that’s evident,” Yankees manager Aaron Boone said after the club announced Volpe had made the big league roster. “I think when we take a step back and evaluate, he really checked every box that we could have had for him. He absolutely kicked the door in and earned this opportunity.”

Volpe famously teamed with Jack Leiter at the Delbarton School (Morristown, N.J.) to win the state non-public Class A championship in 2019. Rather than join Leiter in college at Vanderbilt, Volpe signed for $2,740,300 after New York selected him with the 30th overall choice in the first round. It was not immediately apparent that he'd become one of the best prospects in baseball, currently ranking No. 5 on MLB Pipeline's Top 100 and No. 1 on the Yankees' Top 30.

When Volpe turned pro, he had performed well with Team USA and on the high school showcase circuit, but he drew as many raves for his instincts and intelligence as he did for his physical tools. There were concerns about his right-handed swing, his power and his ability to stay at shortstop. Hampered by mononucleosis in his pro debut, he hit .215/.349/.355 in 34 games in the Rookie-level Appalachian League.

In an interview the following spring, Volpe acknowledged that he needed to get stronger and refine his stroke. Then the pandemic cancelled the Minor League season, and the Yankees declined to hold a domestic instructional league program in the fall, leaving him on his own for development in 2020. Nevertheless, he added significant muscle and reworked his swing to allow him to hit balls much harder and drive them in the air more easily.

Volpe won MLB Pipeline's Hitting Prospect of the Year award in 2021, when he batted .294/.423/.604 with 27 homers and 33 steals in 109 games between Single-A and High-A while leading the Minors in runs (113) and ranking second in OPS (1.027) and third in extra-base hits (68). He overcame a slow start last season to become the first 20-homer/50-steal Minor Leaguer since Andruw Jones in 1995, finishing 2022 in Triple-A at age 21.

A career .263/.376/.505 hitter with 50 homers in 275 Minor League games while continually being one of the younger players in his leagues, Volpe could exceed those slash stats in the big leagues when he's in his prime. He owns as much pure hitting ability as any of New York's prospects and produces high exit velocities and pop to all fields after transforming himself physically. His power has improved two grades, from below-average to plus, since he has turned pro.

Volpe owns solid speed and gets the most out of it on the bases with his savvy and aggressiveness. He stole 50 bases in 57 attempts last year, and he has 89 swipes with an 84 percent success rate as a pro. He topped the Yankees with five steals in as many tries in the Grapefruit League while batting .302/.413/.623 this spring.

The only real question with Volpe is whether he'll stay at shortstop. He has average range and arm strength at short, paling in comparison to Peraza's plus tools, but his finely tuned internal clock and quick hands and release help him make plays. He may be better suited for second base in the long run, but his offensive production should make him a prime Rookie of the Year Award candidate in 2023 and an All-Star no matter where he plays.