The Anthony Volpe Breakout Is upon Us
When the New York Yankees announced at the end of spring training that Anthony Volpe would open the year as the team’s starting shortstop, there was no shortage of excitement among fans. Considering the fact that Volpe grew up a Yankee fan and was a consensus top-five prospect at the position Derek Jeter once played, there was no shortage of comparisons to the former Yankee captain. The Yankees organization leaned into this narrative, making it known that Jeter had been in contact with Volpe, as well posting several social media montages hyping up his debut, seemingly anointing him the next great Yankee before he even played a game in the big leagues.
Rocky Start
Volpe was up and down his first few weeks with the team. While he provided some power and speed on the bases, his batting average and on-base percentage were lower than expected. In early June, Volpe was mired in his worst slump yet, and with his batting average hovering around .190 people began questioning whether he was ready to be the Yankees’ everyday shortstop. After all, he only spent a few weeks in AAA the year prior, and his numbers there weren’t all that impressive. The Yankees’ other highly touted shortstop prospect — Oswald Peraza, who impressed enough in his short stint with the team in 2022 to start an ALCS game — was performing well at AAA, turning up the pressure even more on Volpe.
Adjustments Paying Off
Over the past two weeks, Volpe has turned his season around after making a swing adjustment. Volpe is now more closed off, allowing him to stay on the ball longer and handle outside pitches more effectively. The swing adjustment, which was famously noticed over a chicken parmesan dinner at the Volpe household by Yankees catching prospect Austin Wells, has Volpe looking much more like the player fans expected.
In the 17 games since Volpe changed his stance, his numbers speak for themselves. He is hitting .370 with an OPS of .998 while cutting his strikeout rate dramatically. Volpe is currently riding a seven-game hitting streak. On the Yankees’ most recent road trip, he had a stretch of five straight multi-hit games, tied for the second longest streak of that kind this season.
When compared to how Volpe was performing in the games prior to his stance change, the numbers are even more drastic. Below are Volpe’s numbers in his 59 at-bats leading up to the change:
AVG – .107 OBP – .136 SLG -.214 OPS – .350
32.20 K%, 3.40BB%, 10.50 LD%
Here are his first 59 at-bats after the change:
AVG – .373 OBP – .448 SLG – .569 OPS – 1.017
24.10 K%, 12.10 BB%, 36.10 LD%
Here to Stay
Perhaps the most encouraging takeaways are the jump in line drive and walk percentage and the dip in strikeout percentage. This indicates maintainable results as opposed to a random hot streak. Additionally, Volpe has eight hits on outside pitches over his last 59 at-bats compared to one in the prior 59. Volpe is hitting the ball to all fields and is seeing results. The questions of whether or not he is ready for the Show have dissipated and if Volpe continues to hit like this, all the preseason hype will be validated.
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