BRIDGEWATER TOWNSHIP, N.J. — Not much has changed in the Watchung, N.J., bedroom where Anthony Volpe daydreamed of playing shortstop for the Yankees. The walls still are covered with baseball memories from some of the best times of his life, his framed Team USA and Delbarton School jerseys.
“And this is pretty cool,” Volpe told NJ Advance Media before his game Tuesday night. “I have these blown-up tickets from every Yankees World Series game when I was little. It still looks like a kid’s room.”
Volpe is no kid anymore. He’s 21 as of April 28 and just a couple big steps away from living out his dream playing Double-A ball as the Yankees’ No. 1 prospect. He has an added perk this year playing close to home for the Somerset Patriots.
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Every day the Patriots are home, Volpe wakes up in his old bed and spends time with family before heading to TD Bank Ballpark, which is just a 13-mile drive from Watchung, most of it on Highway 22.
“It’s been a good time,” Volpe said with his customary ear-to-ear smile before Somerset blew out the Reading Fightin’ Phils 10-3.
It’s mostly been a good time.
There’s been a lot of good moments and some bad fortune mixed into Volpe’s game this season. He’s been a rock at shortstop and he’s stealing more bases than he ever has. Most of his hitting analytics are solid, too … exit velocity, hard contact, etc.
One statistic that Volpe isn’t happy about is his .170 Joey Gallo-esque batting average.
“I hold myself to a really high standard and when you don’t perform or feel like you’re doing what you ought to be doing on the field to live up to your own personal standard, it’s obviously frustrating,” Volpe said. “But that’s the game of baseball. That’s why we love it and you’ve just got to keep working.”
Volpe is working every single day to live up to his standards, which reached sky-high proportions last season when he put up sensational numbers playing for Low-A Tampa and High-A Hudson Valley. In 109 games, he hit .294 with 35 doubles, six triples, 27 homers, 86 RBI, 78 walks and a 1.027 OPS. MLB Pipeline was so impressed that Volpe began the season ranked the eighth-best prospect in baseball.
Tuesday was a good night for Volpe, who was 1-for-3 with a line-drive RBI double into the left-field corner, two walks and a stolen base out of a leadoff spot. He also made a nice play at short.
“It was awesome to see Anthony smoke that ball,” Somerset manager Dan Fiorito said. “Those are the glimpses we’ve seen all year. Just like anybody, if he keeps making good swing decisions and controls the zone, he’s going to have success.”
That’s what Volpe keeps hearing from his coaches as his season-long struggles to get hits consistently continue.
“We were talking the other day that his batting average on balls in play was .200 and his expected average was .280,” Fiorito added. “So he’s certainly ran into some tough luck. My eyes tell me that. He smoked some balls to left and right field last week, and guys just ran them down or he hit ‘em right at them.
“His walk rate, his miss rates … everything is above average for the league. The more traditional numbers that we look at on the scoreboard, like batting average ... that’s going to come.”
Masking frustration is among the many things that Volpe masters.
“All you can do is really control what you can control,” he said. “I guess some of the analytics that the Yankees value show that. You can’t really control if you hit a ball 105 mph right at someone. They value that more than if you get a 10 mph infield single. Me? I’m taking that infield single any day.”
The Yankees aren’t concerned about Volpe. All minor leaguers struggle at some point and he’s only 30 games into his first year in Double-A. Plus, he’s the youngest player on his team by about 18 months.
And no, Fiorito insists, the struggles have nothing to do with Volpe feeling any kind of pressure that may come with being a No. 1 prospect and/or playing close to home.
That’s not an excuse for Volpe, nor is the notion that he’s still getting used to Double-A pitching, which features better stuff and control along with similar high-velocity fastballs that he ate up in A-ball.
“I think every level you face more advanced pitching,” Volpe said. “But at the same time, I think it has to do more with what you’re doing and sticking with your approach. If you just see good pitches and put good swings on those pitches, everything else will take care of itself.”
The rest of Volpe’s game has been very solid, especially his improved base-stealing skills. His stolen base in Tuesday’s game was his 15th in 16 tries this season. He had 33 in 2021, his first full professional season, but was thrown out nine times.
Volpe says he’s a smarter base stealer this year thanks in part to Matt Talarico, the Yankees’ minor league baserunning coordinator.
“Matt is a guru,” Volpe said. “I think a lot more goes into stealing bases than probably than what anybody sees. It’s become like hitting and defense with the amount of scouting reports and the amount of work that we spend on it. Matt works with us on our technique and we work hard on it. And then the scouting reports, it makes it a lot less risk than stealing a straight-up base.”
Defensively, Volpe has just three errors in 87 chances and he’s showed off arm strength that improved over the winter when he trained at a Wake Forest pitching lab.
“I’ve probably had two or three places so far where I’ve tried to let it loose and I’ve gotten the guy out, so that’s pretty cool,” Volpe said.
Volpe also is making up for not getting a lot of hits. His 19 walks lead the Patriots and rank 10th in the Eastern League. His 21 runs are tied for second best on his club and tied for sixth in the league. His four homers are fifth on the Patriots, his 19 RBI tied for second.
“With Volpe, you might think he’s not having the best go-around if you’re just looking at the stats, but I hit behind him and I’m telling you every game he does something productive,” Patriots left fielder (and fellow ranked Yankees prospect) Elijah Dunham said. “Even when people think he’s struggling, he’s really not. Yeah, he’s had a few bad games like we all do, but he’s still so productive even when he’s not doing it in the stats. He’s still an asset. He still finds ways to get on base and score runs.”
Batting average aside, this season already has been very rewarding. Volpe treasures having his parents, grandfather, cousins and friends being ballpark regulars. And after every home game, win or lose, Volpe accommodates dozens of fans who want autographs and selfies. As usual, he’s smiling the whole time while conversing with almost everyone.
“I was that little kid,” Volpe said. “It’s kind of why I play the game, so if I could give any little guy that experience, it’s just as much fun for me.”
It’ll be more fun for Volpe when he starts hitting like he can.
“Things are going to get going for Anthony,” Fiorito predicted. “But it’s even when he’s not hot with the bat, it’s awesome to see the competitive at-bats that he puts together and everything else that he brings to the field. He’s such a dynamic player.”
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Randy Miller may be reached at rmiller@njadvancemedia.com.
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