The big position battle in New York Yankees camp is at shortstop where prized prospect Anthony Volpe is trying to win the job over veteran Isiah Kiner-Falefa and fellow prospect Oswald Peraza. Volpe has not only had the upper hand statistically this spring, he has also seemingly won over the team’s best player — and reigning American League MVP — Aaron Judge.
“He’s had a great spring so far. He’s putting the ball in play. He’s making the plays on defense. He’s hustling. Great at-bats. Competitive at bats. To play in New York, those are some of the (needed) intangibles,” said Judge on Saturday via NJ.com. “I’m excited to see whatever point he’s up with us, what he can do for us.
“He’s prepared. Very rarely do you see that at such a young age. Usually you’re a little immature or a little unprepared, but he seems ready to go every single game I’ve played behind him.”
Along with being the Yankees’ top prospect, the 21-year-old Volpe is widely considered one of the best prospects in all of baseball and has put on a show this spring, hitting .314 with three home runs and 1.064 OPS through Saturday.
Yes, it is spring training and the quality of competition needs to be taken into account, but he has hit at every level he has played at to this point with an .881 OPS through three years in the minor leagues.
The Yankees already seem to be prepared to phase Kiner-Falefa out of the starting spot by giving him some playing time in the outfield this spring. His first year as the Yankees’ starting shortstop resulted in disappointing offensive numbers, and it is unlikely he is ever going to hit better than he has to this point in his career.
If the Yankees are going by actual performance, the opening day job should be Volpe’s to lose.
It would be a pretty significant accomplishment if he does end up being the Opening Day starter as only two rookies have started on Opening Day for the Yankees since 2009. Brett Gardner made the Opening Day lineup as a rookie that year, while Judge was also a rookie when he started the 2017 season.
