TAMPA, Fla. — The first rumblings about Anthony Volpe, the next great hope of the New York Yankees, were silences that spoke loudly. When a raft of high-profile shortstops hit the market ahead of 2022 — Corey Seager, Carlos Correa and Marcus Semien among them — the Yankees turned away despite coming to the public realization that Gleyber Torres was not a long-term fit for the position. When another wave of shortstops became available this winter, the Yankees once again sat out the chase.
The noise, absent from the Bronx, was instead building in the New York exurbs. First around the High-A Hudson Valley Renegades in 2021, then around the Double-A Somerset Patriots in 2022. Around a confident, poised, first-round pickOf all people, Volpe was certainly aware that the din wouldn’t be dying down, not here, not for him. He grew up in New Jersey and on the Upper East Side of Manhattan during the Derek Jeter years.
In the intervals without full squads, Volpe and his father set up exactly the simulated games you might expect: They played out imaginary Yankees vs. Red Sox matchups, hovering a few layers of grass, dirt and concrete above the 4 train that ferries fans to the real thing at Yankee Stadium.
“The Volpe and Yankees aspect of, like, actual Yankee fans coming to see him was one thing. Because obviously when you're a 40-minute drive from the Bronx, you're going to get that Yankees fan base that wants to come see their potential future star,” said Steven Cusumano, Somerset’s play-by-play voice.
Talk to Volpe, and that first impression — like his slow start at Somerset — gets flipped on its ear. Even beyond living at home in Double-A, Volpe’s stops at High-A and, most recently, Triple-A were within 90 minutes of his close-knit family. Volpe’s family, according to Cusumano, was “basically part of the team.” In fact, several Double-A teammates-turned-close friends lived at the Volpe family home during the 2022 season.
That reflects a high-probability future in which Volpe hits for at least decent average and decent power with savvy baserunning. It also reflects his lack of any one freakish talent and the uncertainty about whether he will be the best defensive shortstop on his own team. All those little edges mean Volpe shapes up as a more valuable player, despite Peraza’s having a better chance of playing shortstop long-term.
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