Anthony Volpe has picked up right where he left off from his remarkable rookie season with the New York Yankees and has earned high praise from one MLB manager.
Miami Marlins manager Skip Schumaker heralded Volpe as an emerging superstar for his standout play through their start to the 2024 MLB campaign, per Jon Heyman of the New York Post:
“Volpe at shortstop is becoming a superstar in this league,” Schumaker said. “As much as I don’t like to watch it this series, it’s fun to watch just as a baseball fan the way he plays shortstop and the way he’s taking those at-bats.”
Volpe hit his second home run of the young campaign and equaled his RBI total of three runs driven in during the Yankees 7-0 win over the Marlins on Monday and shined throughout their early season series.
Yankees: Anthony Volpe is making his presence felt on offense and defense in 2024
The reigning Gold Glove award winner is off to a blistering start to the 2024 MLB campaign. Not only is Volpe sporting a .967 fielding percentage, right in line with the .970 fielding percentage from his rookie season that earned him the top defensive honor at shortstop, but he’s also connecting at the plate.
The 22-year-old has a .375/.444/.600 slash line to his name. He’s also generated six RBIs as a brilliant support option from fifth through seventh in the Yankees’ batting order thus far.
Volpe has taken major strides as a more efficient hitter this season
Volpe’s efficacy at the plate was an area that he showed he could’ve used improvement in as a rookie. He did hit 21 home runs but his .209 batting average left something to be desired. Now, the tremendous uptick in efficiency, though small in sample size, is an encouraging marker for Yankees manager Aaron Boone to continue to help him maintain and for Marlins manager Schumaker to try and contain.
The Yankees are unequivocally the best team in baseball right now, and while OF Juan Soto is getting much of the attention for the impact he’s made, Volpe’s contributions are worth noting.