With less than a week to go before Opening Day, top prospect Anthony Volpe is in a place where even some within the Yankees didn’t expect him to be: in the running for the starting shortstop job.
The 21-year-old has put up a .939 OPS with two home runs in 43 spring training at-bats, and is reportedly forcing the organization into a tough decision.
According to Brendan Kuty of The Athletic, Volpe has gained the support of “some high-level voices inside the organization,” and could very well break camp as a member of the Opening Day roster. Per Kuty, the Yankees’ focus is fielding the best roster to start the season, which of course should be the objective but sometimes gets clouded by contracts, service time statuses, etc.
But Volpe, who has played just 22 games at Triple-A in his career, has been turning heads with his all-around play, while counterpart Oswald Peraza has struggled this spring despite showing promise when he was called up down the stretch of the regular season. With Isiah Kiner-Falefa taking reps elsewhere on the diamond and transitioning into a utility role, there is clearly set to be a change at shortstop in 2023, and it could be Volpe getting the nod.
Per Kuty’s report, the decision could come down to the last minute, but Volpe is getting the start at short behind Gerrit Cole for the ace’s final spring start on Friday.
Follow Ryan Chichester on Twitter: @ryanchichester1
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