The Yankees stayed local in making their first-round selection in Monday night's MLB draft.
The Bronx Bombers used the 30th overall pick to draft Anthony Volpe, a shortstop out of Delbarton High School in Morristown, New Jersey. Volpe, 18, is 5 feet 11 inches and bats right-handed.
Here's what some online scouting reports were saying about Volpe, a Vanderbilt commitment, leading up to the draft.
From MLB.com:
Volpe is the kind of player who grows on evaluators the more they see him, with his whole being greater than the sum of his parts. He gets an 80 on the 20-to-80 scouting scale for his makeup and work ethic. He does have a solid approach at the plate with excellent bat control and while he doesn't have a ton of power, there is enough strength to keep pitchers honest, like when he went deep at the NHSI. Though he's not a burner, Volpe runs well and has good instincts on the bases and defensively. He has good hands and footwork and while he might have an average arm, some feel it might mean that second base will be a better long-term home for him, even if a team sends him out as a shortstop initially.
From Perfect Game:
Medium athletic build with some present strength and room for more. 6.62 runner, very polished defensive infielder with all the actions, advanced footwork and balance, very quick transfer and release, very smooth and fluid, not elite arm strength but plenty to play all over the infield with his other skills. Right handed hitter, some polished skill set, short and compact swing with good bat speed, middle of the field line drive approach, can drive the ball to the gaps on his pitch. High level performance record, really knows how to play the game and slows it down.
A right-handed hitting shortstop, Volpe is short and muscular, with especially strong legs and a lively look to his frame. He’s a good athlete who moves around the dirt well, showing average range and an average arm with instincts that might enable him to play slightly above those. He has good hands and takes very good angles to balls, seemingly never fielding an in-between hop and doing a good job getting around and fielding the ball. I think he has a chance to be average at shortstop and could provide good utility value moving around the dirt to both second base and third base long-term.
Volpe was teammates at Delbarton with pitcher Jack Leiter, also a top prospect in the draft and the son of former Yankees and Mets pitcher Al Leiter.
With the 38th overall pick -- which came in Competitive Balance Round A -- the Yankees selected University of Missouri left-handed pitcher T.J. Sikkema. The Yankees acquired the pick from the Cincinnati Reds in January's Sonny Gray trade.
In the second round, the Bombers used the 67th overall pick on LSU second baseman Josh Smith.
The Baltimore Orioles selected Oregon State catcher Adley Rutschman with the first overall pick. With the 12th pick, the Mets took Brett Baty, a power-hitting third baseman out of Lake Travis High School in Texas.
