The time of Anthony Volpe is officially now. The Yankees announced that Volpe will be on the Opening Day roster, and now we await to see whether or not he’ll be starting at either SS or 2B. The kid dominated this spring and did everything in his power to earn a spot, and now his hard work has paid off. Though it’s the first step to what should be a fantastic MLB career, one can only imagine the amount of joy the superstar prospect is feeling.
Anthony Volpe is ready for The Show:
Volpe rose to popularity expeditiously last season, and now he’ll get his opportunity right out of the gate. All spring, there were discussions on whether or not the Yanks would have him bypass some more time at AAA, but now we know he’s on the roster for sure.
The Athletic’s Brendan Kuty reported the news and stated the following:
“I’m told that Anthony Volpe has made the roster.” Following that, Passan and multiple other outlets immediately jumped on it like sharks in a feeding frenzy, and the baseball world exploded.
Brendan Kuty
Last season in the minors, across both AA Somerset and AAA Scranton, he hit 21 HR, swiped 50 bags, and posted a wRC+ of 110. This spring, he has absolutely lit it up and was truly stellar at every facet of the game. In 51 ABs, he slashed .314 / .417 / .647, good for a 1.064 OPS. He smashed 3 HR, stole five bases, hit another six doubles, and worked nine walks as well. Boone recently stated that DJ LeMahieu will be the leadoff guy on opening day, but it could be Volpe’s soon for the taking.
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The Yankees are finally committing to their prospects:
The Yankees have shifted in their “keeping prospects down” mentality, and now we’ll get to see the kids shine on the biggest stage. Though there are still questions over the future surrounding a few guys like Oswald Peraza and Gleyber Torres, that is another decision that’ll be made in the coming days. I remain interested to see how the Yanks will configure the lineup and what guys will give way to make it happen.
Volpe truly did everything right this spring and excelled defensively as well. Whether he played second base or shortstop, he was as sound as they come up the middle. Watching him turn two with either Peraza, Torres, or DJ will be a welcome sight this season. The following around him has been crazy these past few months, and now the Yanks’ prized prospect gets his first taste of the bigs.
It’ll be great to follow his progress this season, but if spring is an indication of anything, he could be the early favorite to win the AL Rookie of the Year award. He wasn’t just hitting against minor league pitchers either, as he was able to smack around Aaron Nola, as well as Tanner Houck & Chris Martin, who pitch for Boston. It’ll be a storybook season for him, and hopefully, he’s able to get out of the gates hot.