In two Major League seasons, New York Yankees shortstop Anthony Volpe has given fans plenty of reason to hope he could be the team’s long-term solution at the position once manned by Derek Jeter.
Volpe raised his batting average by 34 points between his rookie and sophomore campaigns (though the starting point was a paltry .209). He also won a Gold Glove in his first year and cut down on his strikeout rate in his second. Then, of course, there was the World Series grand slam that kept the Yankees’ championship hopes alive for one more night in October.
On the other hand, Volpe’s overall power numbers dropped from year one to year two. He hit 21 home runs as a rookie compared to 12 in 2024 while his hard-hit rate decreased and his ground-ball rate increased. The reason, as Chris Kirschner of The Athletic explained in a piece on Monday, is that Volpe prioritized contact and putting the ball in play in 2024.
“Volpe sacrificed most of his slugging potential to put the ball in play, and not all contact is created equal,” he wrote. “His OPS dropped slightly from .666 in 2023 to .657 in 2024.”
Kirschner compared him to Dansby Swanson, now of the Chicago Cubs. When Swanson came up with the Atlanta Braves, he was a subpar hitter for three seasons before he began focusing on hitting the ball hard.
“Once Swanson started hitting the ball with authority, his numbers jumped,” Kirschner continued. “Volpe was an impressive prospect in the Yankees’ farm system and showcased encouraging power potential for a middle infielder. He became the top prospect in the Yankees’ system because of his special bat. If he could take his pull-centric, hard-hitting approach from the minors and apply it to the majors, he could become one of the best shortstops in MLB.”
Yankees manager Aaron Boone thinks Anthony Volpe’s playoff hot streak can carry into 2025
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Though Volpe didn’t hit for much power in 2024, his postseason told a slightly different story. He only hit the one home run, but his OPS jumped to .815, compared to .657 in the regular season.
Yankees manager Aaron Boone saw it coming, even after Volpe struggled in the final weeks of the regular season.
“The week off leading into the postseason, the little adjustments I saw, it was like, boom, it leapt off the screen,” Boone said. “Then, obviously, he carried it into the games into the postseason. I haven’t seen the bat tracking, but I’m not surprised because I know what I was watching every single day, and that’s what we want.”
Despite having two full seasons under his belt, Volpe is still only 23. Young players evolve as they grow used to the league, and Volpe should be no exception.
“I’m really confident that what I saw from him in the final weeks of the season, and then certainly into the postseason, is absolutely something that will hopefully carry over to where he becomes more and more of a consistent offensive player,” Boone added.
