Anthony Volpe

Anthony Michael Volpe

Bats Right, Throws Right
Height 5' 11", Weight 180 lb.
High School Delbarton School
Debut March 30, 2023

Born April 28, 2001 in New York, NY USA

Biographical Information[edit]

Anthony Volpe was the first-round pick of the New York Yankees in the 2019 amateur draft, with the 30th overall pick. He was very much a local boy, having grown up a Yankees fan in Manhattan and later in the New Jersey suburbs, with Derek Jeter his hero. He was present at the Yankees' World Series Parade after the won the 2009 World Series; by the time they made it back to the Fall Classic in 2024, he was their starting shortstop.

He was considered likely to be a tough sign because of a commitment to Vanderbilt University, but being selected by his favorite team changed his outlook and he signed quickly, inking a deal on June 10th for a reported bonus of $2.7 million. The fact that he was considered a tough sign made him drop far enough for the Yankees to take him, as on pure talent he would have gone a lot higher; even after being drafted by the Yanks, he said that foregoing college was "the hardest decision of his life". In addition to his playing in high school, Volpe was a member of the United States junior national team that took part in the Pan-American championships in December 2018. He hit .459 with 17 runs and 14 RBIs in 9 games in that tournament.

He began his pro career with the Pulaski Yankees of the Appalachian League, where he hit .215/.349/.355 in 34 games in 2019. After having to sit out the 2020 season because the minor leagues were shut down by the COVID-19 pandemic, he split 2021 between the Tampa Tarpons of the Low-A Southeast and the Hudson Valley Renegades of the High-A East, playing 54 games at the first stop and 55 at the second. His production was very similar at both levels and his combined batting line was .294/.423/.604 with 27 homers and 86 RBIs, giving the Yankees more evidence that they had a future star on their hands.

He was named to the American League team for the 2022 Futures Game. He spent most of that season in AA with the Somerset Patriots of the Eastern League, hitting .251 in 110 games, with 31 doubles, 18 homers and 60 RBIs, then received a late-season promotion to the AAA Scranton/Wilkes-Barre RailRiders. On September 8th, he hit his first two homers at the level in the same game. He also stole 50 bases between the two teams.

He went to spring training in 2023 with an outside chance to win the starting shortstop job, given the limited offensive numbers that were expected from incumbent Isiah Kiner-Falefa. In fact his biggest competition turned out to be another rookie, Oswald Peraza, who had made his debut late the previous season, while Kiner-Falefa was looked at as a utility player. Heading into the final week of spring training, Volpe and Peraza were neck-and-neck: Volpe was outhitting Peraza, but the latter had done well in his call-up the previous year, and was already on the 40-man roster, while Volpe had barely played above AA. However, the Yankees decided to go with Volpe in any case, confirming this on March 26th and making the comparisons with Derek Jeter unavoidable. At 21, he was one of the youngest position players to ever make the team's Opening Day roster, with only Mickey Mantle, Ben Chapman, Joe Pepitone and Frankie Crosetti ever doing so at a younger age. He and Blake Sabol were the first players to make their major league debuts in the 2023 season, since the two were in the starting line-up for their respective teams in the first game to get going that day, although Volpe has the edge since he was on the field for the first pitch of the game, while Sabol did not appear until the bottom of the 1st inning. Volpe went 0 for 2 with a walk and a stolen base while batting 9th in a 5-0 win over the San Francisco Giants at New Yankee Stadium. He stole a base in each of his first three games, becoming the first player in Yankees history to do so, and only the fifth in the majors since 1901, the last having been speedster Billy Hamilton ten years earlier. He hit his first career homer on April 14th, off Louie Varland of the Minnesota Twins as the Yankees' first batter in the bottom of the 1st inning; it was immediately followed by another homer, by Aaron Judge. The following day, he stole three bases, becoming the youngest player in team history to achieve that feat. His second homer was another big one, breaking a scoreless tie in the 8th inning with a two-run shot off Yimi Garcia of the Toronto Blue Jays on April 22nd. He hit his first career grand slam, incidentally matching the career total of his idol, Derek Jeter, on May 10th against the Oakland Athletics. He was the youngest Yankees player to hit a slam at home, although two others, including Mickey Mantle, had hit one on the road at a younger age. He played a total of 159 games in his rookie season, hitting .209 with 21 homers and 69 RBIs, for an OPS+ of 81. Of course, he had been given the starting job for his glove first and did not disappoint on that count, winning the Gold Glove as the best-fielding shortstop in the American League.

He was given shot to be the Yankees' leadoff hitter at the start of the season in 2024, due to a lack of other suitable candidates, but he was moved back to a spot lower in the batting order after a couple of months, as the team brass did not want him to have to worry too much about his hitting, at the detriment of his key skill, his fielding. The Yankees were a much improved team that year, winning a division title and finishing with the best record in the American League, and he improved his batting average to .243. However, his power dropped from 21 to 12 homers, his OBP was still well below average at .293, and whole his OPS+ was better, it only rose from 81 to 86. He did well in his first taste of the postseason that year, especially in the ALCS against the Cleveland Guardians when he hit .353 and scored 5 runs as the Yankees qualified for the World Series for the first time since he was a parade-watching kid in 2009. He showed a lot of patience over those first two rounds, drawing four walks in each of the two series. He had a great game on Game 4 of the World Series, saving the Yankees from elimination at the hands of the Los Angeles Dodgers when he hit a grand salm off Daniel Hudson in the 3rd inning, and added a double, a walk and two stolen bases, scoring three runs, in an 11-4 win.

In 2025, he lost his original double play partner, as 2B Gleyber Torres left via free agency. He was replaced by Jazz Chisholm, who had been a trading deadline acquisition the year before but had played out of position at third base during the Yankees' run to the World Series.

Notable Achievements[edit]

AL Gold Glove Winner (2023)
20-Home Run Seasons: 1 (2023)

Related Sites[edit]

Search

Namespaces

Views

Anthony Volpe

Contents

Biographical Information[edit]

Notable Achievements[edit]

Further Reading[edit]

Related Sites[edit]

Full Site Menu

FAQs, Tip & Tricks