Yankees rookie shortstop Anthony Volpe steps into history with his first career home run in an MLB game on April 14. It was just his 14th major league game and the Yankees’ top prospect slammed a fastball from Twins starter Louie Varland into a home run over the left field fence at Yankee Stadium.
Anthony Volpe’s home run in the first inning makes him the first Yankee to do so since Bobby Richardson hit his big homer against the Tigers on July 25, 1959.
Anthony Volpe hits first career home run
Anthony Volpe’s leadoff home run left the bat at 99.8 mph and went 394 feet way over the left field fence. Louie Varland, a right-handed pitcher for the Minnesota Twins, was the victim of the first home run by the Yankees newest shortstop.
Batting at .179 (7-for-39) with a .606 OPS, a double, and a triple in 14 games, Anthony Volpe isn’t off to the best start of his major league career so far this season. But his home run and base-stealing capability speak volumes about his future in pinstripes.
Anthony Volpe, batting first in a lineup without DJ LeMahieu, hit his first career home run on the first pitch he saw. Right-hander Varland used a 95.3 mph four-seam fastball to hit the top of the strike zone, a pitch and location against which the 21-year-old had struggled in his first few weeks in the majors. This time, the New Jersey native caught it and sent it flying to left-center, into the stands, where he was enthusiastically cheered as the team’s future shortstop.
The Statcast-estimated that the 394-foot blast was Anthony Volpe’s second career extra-base hit. On April 8, he had legged out a triple against the Orioles.
Anthony Volpe claimed that both his father Michael and mother Isabelle were among the 41,039 attendees on Friday. A member of the Yankees’ security staff helped Volpe get back the home run ball following a swap deal with the fan who caught it. The Yankees shortstop told that he was undecided about what to do with the historic artifact.
“[The dugout reaction] was pretty great, from what I remember of it,” Volpe said. “I was pretty blacked out, but it was cool to share it with everybody.”
At 21, Anthony Volpe is the Yankees’ youngest starting shortstop since Derek Jeter made his debut in 1996.
His first-ever home run is also Anthony Volpe’s first RBU. The shortstop has also drawn five walks and stolen three bases so far this year.
After Volpe’s homer, Judge hit a solo shot to right center on the first pitch of his at-bat. They shared an embrace in the dugout after the game.
A Yankees record
With this home run, Anthony Volpe is the first Bomber to hit a leadoff MLB home run in since Bobby Richardson did it on July 25, 1959, in Detroit. The leadoff homer makes him the third-youngest among the Yankees after Mickey Mantle (19 years, 328 days on Sept. 13, 1951) and Mark Koenig (21 years, 278 days on April 23, 1926).
“It was a pretty special moment that I got to share with the rest of the guys,” Anthony Volpe said. “I don’t think it really sunk in until an inning or two later.”
The Yankees’ manager, Aaron Boone, is certain that Anthony Volpe, the team’s top prospect and the No. 3 in all of baseball, will get plenty of additional chances to shine in the Bronx despite his disappointment over a defeat that ruined an excellent storyline for Anthony Volpe.
“It was cool,” Boone said. “Great crowd tonight; a warm night, like a summer night. To get it going like that, it was definitely fueling him.”
Meet the fan who caught Volpe’s 1st HR ball
Marvin Castillo, a die-hard Yankees fan from Brooklyn, caught the ball that Anthony Volpe hit for his first career home run. Marvin Castillo lamented to a friend five minutes before diving for the ball telling how he was unable to catch a home-run ball in his 25 years of Yankees game attendance.
But when the chance presented itself to Castillo on Friday night at Yankee Stadium, he didn’t waste it. He was there with his wife, Andrea, at Section 136, and they saw Volpe hit a 394-foot home run to left-center field to lead off the top of the first inning against the Twins.
The 30-year-old Brooklynite emerged from the commotion wearing a pinstriped Yankees jersey with Aaron Judge’s No. 99 on the back. A fan sitting right behind him placed his hands on his head and opened his mouth in disbelief.
“No one caught the ball and it kind of rolled to my right side. I just went for it,” Castillo told. “It’s amazing that I was just saying that to my wife and he hits it out here. I was so excited to get a ball that I didn’t even realize it was Volpe and his first home run until people started yelling, ‘Hang on to that ball!’ ”
Castillo gave over the baseball to the stadium staff without delay, and they promptly organized a fan experience package to return Anthony Volpe’s souvenir. Castillo claimed that after the game, Anthony Volpe offered him an autograph, a picture op, a clubhouse tour, and tickets to a future game when he could watch batting practice on the field.
“As a diehard Yankees fan, I’m not going to take that away from Anthony Volpe,” Castillo said. “I let the Yankees know from jump that I was going to give it back to him.”
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