With two home runs on Thursday at Durham, Anthony Volpe sounded the Yankees of his pinstripe expectations. The 21-year top prospect is only six games old in Triple-A but his ability to hit makes him a hot property for entry into the Bombers’ Major League roster.
Volpe, MLB’s No. 5 prospect, hit his first two Minor League home runs in the Scranton RailRiders’ 7-2 win over the Bulls on Thursday. It’s his first multi-homer game since June 19 of last year and his second straight season with at least 20 homers.
“It felt good just to help the team get a win,” an overjoyed the top prospect said while keeping nerves calm. He added, “It’s a really great clubhouse that’s welcomed me in since I got called up this past week, so it felt really great to get a win with them.”
According to Volpe, it is easier for Yankees players to move from Single-A to Triple-A because of how the team setup is made.
“The common message from one affiliate to the next really helped the transition be pretty seamless,” Volpe told and continued, “Everyone’s kind of preaching the same stuff, so when you get called up, your routine doesn’t necessarily change and you feel like you can hit the ground running.”
The 21-year-old looks unfazed. Volpe has at least one hit in every game he’s played, and he walked against Rays ace Tyler Glasnow on Wednesday.
In Glasnow’s one inning of work, he was the only batter to get on base.
In a post-match chat, Volpe acknowledged of feeling great following his Triple-A exploits. He disclosed that his planning to deal with a pitcher of the caliber of Glasnow helped him “get in the zone even before the game.”
Thursday was a great example of this high level of pitch choice. Even though he struck out and grounded out in his first two at-bats, the shortstop stayed in the count both times. His first dinger of the day also saw a similar action from the player.
When Volpe was up to bat with two outs in the fifth, the right-handed Jeremy Walker ran the count against him all the way through. The right-handed batter hit a solo home run on the sixth pitch in the upper middle half, his first at Triple-A.
He didn’t stay in the yard for very long before he left again. In the seventh, the New Jersey native crushed a 0-1 pitch from lefty Angel Perdomo to left center for another solo home run.
“I haven’t played against a Rays team since I was in Rookie ball,” Volpe told. He went on to say, “But when I talked to the players who faced them in the big leagues, I saw that they tried to throw different looks at you every time with different pitchers, whether they were right-handed or left-handed, had different arm slots, or moved their pitches in different ways; every time they were up to bat was different.”
Volpe had a chance to hit a third home run in the ninth, but he flew out to right on a 3-0 pitch, ending his night with two home runs.
Volpe said, “I don’t know if I try to hit home runs every time, but 3-0 is one of the best counts to hit in.” “I thought it was a good time in the game to take a chance and make a good cut.”
Volpe’s 2022 campaign is ending stronger than ever. He has already stolen 46 bases, which is a career-high. He needs five hits and three doubles to beat his career highs of 121 hits and 35 doubles, which he set last season.
The future is now in the Bronx, where No. 3 prospect Oswaldo Peraza (MLB No. 53) and No. 14 prospect Oswaldo Cabrera just made their Major League debuts.
“For me and all the other guys in the group, it’s pretty cool to see them do well,” Volpe said. “It gives us a goal to work toward. ”
Is Anthony Volpe ready for his MLB debut? Should the Yankees call him to the Major League roster?
