One thing is for sure, the New York Yankees have a rather difficult week ahead trying to figure out who will be their starting shortstop on Opening Day. Anthony Volpe is making a strong push to land on the 26-man roster, but Aaron Boone’s comments on Oswald Peraza suggest he may be the odd man out, which is a crazy reality given he was the assumed starter just a few days ago.
Boone stated that Peraza has been just “all right” this spring, and he’s had a few bad at-bats as he works through some mechanical issues. The problem is Boone never suggests anything negative about tenured players who have been struggling for years, let alone offer a slightly negative review of a top prospect who barely has any MLB experience. It seems out of character, making for one of the more interesting weeks leading up to OD we’ve seen in quite a while.
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Players and managerial members have been offering their takes regarding Volpe and Peraza for a few days now, with the latest being starting pitcher Nestor Cortés, who is excited to see how things unfold and is rooting for both prospects.
“It’s a healthy battle,” Cortes said. “It’s going to bring the best out of both of them. I’m rooting for both of them. It’s going to be tough, a tough decision for the organization and Booney. But I’m pulling for both of them.”
Via MLB.com.
The Yankees are certainly hyping up Anthony Volpe:
Volpe has had a clear advantage the spring based on his offensive performance, while Peraza has struggled to a degree. In a perfect world, both players would shine and provide elite qualities both defensively and offensively, but that might be too optimistic.
On the other hand, Cortes is coming off his second spring training performance, bouncing back after a tough first outing. He gave up five earned runs and two homers across 3.1 innings against Toronto on March 18 but struck out seven batters and gave up just two hits across 4.0 innings against the St. Louis Cardinals on Thursday afternoon.
At the very least, the Yankees know Cortes situates a key spot in the starting rotation, allowing them to focus their attention on deciding a few big position battles that will significantly impact the 2023 season.