Anthony Volpe has played three official, regular-season games as the shortstop of the New York Yankees. So far, his stat line isn’t overly impressive: he is slashing .222/.364/.222 with a .586 OPS. He has a couple of singles and also two walks, keeping that on-base percentage up despite the lack of power (for now).
Besides that OBP, there is something in which Volpe has been elite at in the early going: stealing bases. The Yankees, as a team, have swiped five bases, and three belong to the top prospect.
Volpe is second in the league in thefts with his three, only behind former Yankees prospect Jorge Mateo. With 50 stolen bases in 2022 across two minor league levels and 83 in the last two seasons, it’s clear that the young prospect is a willing runner.
The Yanks haven’t had such an impactful stolen base weapon in a while, and it represents a nice change of pace to all the walks and power. It’s good to have someone who makes opposing pitchers nervous.
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The Yankees rookie is breaking records:
He is already breaking records. When he stole third base in the seventh inning of the Yanks’ 6-0 win against the Giants on Sunday, he became just the fifth player since 1901 to steal a base in each of his first three MLB games, according to the league’s official site. He’s also the first to do it since known modern speedster Billy Hamilton 10 years ago.
“I think a lot of credit goes to our coaching staff and the staff that puts together the reports on stealing bags,” Volpe said, per MLB.com. “We want to make it as low risk as you can. I think the modern game has gotten away from stealing bags.”
The offense may or may not come, but it’s clear the Yankees’ future star wants to run as much as he can. If he can keep getting on base at a decent clip and retain his starting position for the rest of the year, 35 or 40 steals might not be out of the question.
“I just want to impact every game any way I can. Definitely, when I get on base, whether I go or whether I don’t, just threatening the other team, having them think about me and think a little less about [the hitter]. Just on a day-to-day basis, I want them to think about me on the bases.”
The Yankees, at long last, have a legitimate base-stealing threat in Volpe.