It clearly didn’t take long for Anthony Volpe to turn heads at Yankees camp this spring.
One of the most fascinating players in Tampa right now, Volpe has been raking all spring. Caring about spring training stats usually is a fool’s errand, but it’s hard to ignore the 6-for-17 hitting line he has through Monday, complete with five runs scored, a home run and three stolen bases.
You expect such things from top prospects, but he’s just 21 and has only played a mere 22 Triple-A games.
But when he stepped in for his first live batting practice of spring training last month, he was knocking around a bona fide big league hurler.
“Anthony Volpe is really, really good. Really good,” ESPN’s Tim Kurkjian said on the “Baseball Tonight” podcast. “His first batting practice of spring training, I was told, the first live BP was against Carlos Rodón. The first pitch he hit over the batter’s eye, the second pitch he hit a home run to left field. Rodon is out there going ‘Oh my god, who is this kid?’”
With Oswald Peraza and Isiah Kiner-Falefa still in the fold, Volpe might well be ticketed for Scranton to start the season. But if he keeps hitting like this, it’ll be tough to keep him out of the majors for long.
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