New York Yankees shortstop Anthony Volpe was the team’s first-round choice in the 2019 MLB Draft.
It came without too much fanfare: in fact, some people thought it was a reach.
But the 2020 season in which there wasn’t a minor league calendar presented a challenge for him.
Many young players became depressed about losing one year of development.
Not Volpe, though.
He transformed his body and his swing, and showed up in 2021 hitting 27 home runs and stealing 33 bases between Class-A and High-A.
He put himself on the map and entered most top-100 prospect lists.
After his 2022, in which he homered 21 times and stole 50 bases between Double-A and Triple-A, he became a consensus top-10 prospect.
He received an invitation to the Yanks’ spring training complex and is competing for the starting shortstop gig.
He could use some more seasoning in Triple-A, but nobody will tell him not to dream big.
The coolest thing is that his childhood idol is a team legend.
“’I grew up a huge fan of Derek Jeter. There’s never going to be another player like him.’ Anthony Volpe on being viewed as the SS of the future for the Yankees,” SNY Yankees tweeted, with some of Volpe’s quotes.
“I grew up a huge fan of Derek Jeter. There’s never going to be another player like him.”
Anthony Volpe on being viewed as the SS of the future for the Yankees: pic.twitter.com/lO9KdlJfmj
— Yankees Videos (@snyyankees) February 21, 2023
It’s definitely not bad to have a player who won five World Series as your idol.
To be fair, Jeter was the idol of an entire generation of kids.
If Volpe can be 75 percent the player Jeter was, the Yankees will probably be ecstatic.
But comparing the two, even their tools, does no good.
Volpe needs to be the best version of himself he can be.
He has the talent to be a 25-homer, 30-steal shortstop in MLB with passable defense and good contact skills.
That would be a star.
Will he reach that ceiling?
NEXT:
Aaron Judge Comments On Chasing History Again
