When the New York Yankees<\/a> announced at the end of spring training that Anthony Volpe<\/strong><\/a> 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<\/strong><\/a> 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.<\/p>\n 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 \u2014\u00a0Oswald Peraza<\/strong><\/a>, who impressed enough in his short stint with the team in 2022 to start an ALCS game \u2014 was performing well at AAA, turning up the pressure even more on Volpe.<\/p>\n 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<\/strong><\/a>, has Volpe looking much more like the player fans expected.<\/p>\nRocky Start<\/h3>\n
Adjustments Paying Off<\/h3>\n