Yankees shortstop prospect Anthony Volpe shifts to second base for a night
Yankees shortstop Anthony Volpe does fielding drills during spring training at George M. Steinbrenner Field in Tampa, Fla., on Monday. Credit: Newsday/Thomas A. Ferrara
TAMPA, Fla. — What did the Yankees’ top-rated shortstop prospect do for an encore Monday night at Steinbrenner Field? Anthony Volpe, who wowed observers with his performance Sunday in Dunedin, moved over to start at second base.
It’s the first of what should be a month of lineup shuffling between the youngsters (Volpe, Oswald Peraza and Oswaldo Cabrera) vying for an Opening Day job. Cabrera started at third base and Isiah Kiner-Falefa was at short.
Volpe’s Grapefruit League audition got off to a fast start Sunday, as he went 2-for-4 with two stolen bases. He also ripped another line drive directly at Blue Jays shortstop Bo Bichette.
The Yankees’ 2019 first-round pick (30th overall) has an outside shot at making the roster out of camp, but depending on the team’s needs — and whatever injuries pop up — it could be somewhere other than shortstop.
With some talent evaluators seeing him as a future second baseman, that could be part of the equation as well. He will get time at third as well in spring training.
When asked about how Volpe’s workload could be distributed, manager Aaron Boone declined to be specific.
“I want him to play,” he said before Monday night’s game against the Tigers. “Obviously with IKF, Peraza, Volpe and even some of the other guys in camp that need to get some time at shortstop, I want him to play. Try to get him in there whenever we can. So if that means different spots, so be it.”
Boone already is a believer in Peraza and Cabrera after watching both excel toward the end of last season. As for Kiner-Falefa, he lost the shortstop job during the final two games of last October’s ALDS, but the Yankees brought him back for a second chance at $6 million, so there’s a financial component with his candidacy.
One thing about Volpe: The stage isn’t looking too big. There’s a reason he’s drawn comparisons to Derek Jeter, and it’s not just because Volpe, 21, plays the same position.
“He’s got a special makeup,” Boone said. “All I’ve ever seen in the chances that I’ve been around him, all the player development reports you get over the years, you always hear about the intangibles, the leadership. That’s who he’s been since the day he signed with us. Obviously, he’s performed great, but it’s those intangible things that I think get people the most excited about.”
Closer committee?
Technically, Clay Holmes remains penciled in as the Yankees’ closer. But after Holmes was named an All-Star last season, he struggled in the second half with a 4.84 ERA and 1.30 WHIP before getting shut down at the end of September because of a shoulder strain.
That opened the door for the Yankees to consider deploying other arms from the strong back end of their bullpen for the upcoming season, and Boone wasn’t shy Monday about saying he intends to utilize his relievers in varied spots, including cameos at closer, without iron-clad defined roles.
“I do feel like the guys we have down there complement each other well, meaning different strengths on a given night for different parts of the lineup,” he said. “So I’m going to be more inclined to work it that way. I think Clay Holmes is going to save a lot of games and might end up being that guy that we lean on more. But with all the guys, whether it’s [Wandy] Peralta, Tommy [Kahnle], [Jonathan] Loaisiga, Michael King — all guys that I’m really comfortable in a closing situation.”
Extra bases
Nestor Cortes threw his second live batting practice since being scratched from the World Baseball Classic because of a low Grade 2 right hamstring strain. Cortes looked fine during the spirited session, even going to his sidearm slider a handful of times, which prompted the hitters — most of the Yankees' starting lineup — to trash-talk him. One yelled, “Throw it overhand, Meat!” When Kyle Higashioka homered off Cortes, the Yankees' bench erupted . . . Boone said DJ LeMahieu, Giancarlo Stanton and Anthony Rizzo will make their Grapefruit League debuts Wednesday when the Yankees host the Nationals at Steinbrenner Field . . . With the Rays using the Disney facility vacated by Atlanta, it’s not equipped for the new pitch clock, so Tuesday’s visit by the Yankees will be played without one. “You guys will be part of history,” Boone joked.
David Lennon is an award-winning columnist, a voter for baseball's Hall of Fame and has covered six no-hitters, including two perfect games.
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