New York Yankees legend Willie Randolph, who won two World Series rings with the Bombers, knows a thing or two about playing hard.
A great defender at second base, he also got on base at a .373 clip and stole 271 bases over the course of a successful career.
Night in and night out, he always gave his all.
Now, he is advising young prospect Anthony Volpe to do the same.
“’Just play hard every day, the fans are going to love you.’ Willie Randolph discusses his role as mentor to Anthony Volpe and the Yankees’ young stars with @BryanHoch,” YES Network tweeted.
“Just play hard every day, the fans are going to love you.”
Willie Randolph discusses his role as mentor to Anthony Volpe and the Yankees’ young stars with @BryanHoch. pic.twitter.com/nrQiwM76Ct
— YES Network (@YESNetwork) March 27, 2023
Randolph worked a lot with Volpe during spring training, and it definitely paid off: the top prospect is making the Yankees as the starting shortstop after an explosive performance.
Volpe grew up as a Yankees fan, idolizing Derek Jeter and understanding the impact of guys like Randolph in building a winning culture in the Bronx.
Drafted in the first round of the 2019 MLB Draft, Volpe is now ready to show what he is made of.
In 2021, he hit 27 homers and accumulated 33 stolen bases across multiple minor league levels.
Last year, the numbers were 21 and 50, in Double-A and Triple-A.
He is ready, despite not yet mastering Triple-A: the evolution and maturity he showed in the spring tells us he worked on his game and improved over the offseason.
He beat a fellow good prospect in Oswald Peraza for the job, not to mention last year’s starter Isiah Kiner-Falefa.
If he goes out there and plays like he knows how, he might be a Rookie of the Year candidate.
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