Plate discipline helped Yankees' Anthony Volpe work through his slump

ARLINGTON, Texas – A rival talent evaluator, speaking during the 2021 season after watching a top position prospect named Anthony Volpe for a stretch with High-A Hudson Valley, said one element of the shortstop’s game jumped out at him in particular.  

“Plate discipline,” the National League scout, assigned to the Yankees’ minor-league system, said at the time. “Just a very mature approach for such a young player. “Really good energy, just seems to enjoy playing. Good hitter with a lot of upside. Power is developing, runs really well … but for me, it’s the plate discipline (that stands out first).”

Not much has changed nearly a month into Volpe’s big-league career.

And it helped extract the rookie, who turns 22 on Friday, from a hitting slump to start the season.

Volpe entered Thursday's game hitting .292 with a .424 on-base percentage and .882 OPS over his previous 14 games after hitting .129 with a .250 OBP and .712 OPS over his first 11 games.

And front and center in that turnaround has been Volpe’s ability, even in the throes of his slow start, to not chase pitches out of the strike zone.

“Definitely a lot,” Volpe said of how much that plate discipline has helped him. “Since I’ve been a part of this organization, they place a really big emphasis on that.”

One American League scout who has recently seen the Yankees said it has shown.

“There’s just a lot about him that’s above average or well above average and that (plate discipline) is one,” the scout said. “With the elite bat-to-ball skills … it’s a good combination.”

Volpe, who has been in the leadoff spot the last 11 games – including Thursday night against the Rangers – has drawn praise from his teammates since Day 1 of spring training. And that has continued into the regular season, which brings many more eyeballs and significantly more pressure.

“Most impressive is how he’s taken his walks,” Anthony Rizzo said of Volpe during the mini-slump. “That for me is a sign of maturity beyond his years of being a 21-year-old rookie. When you’re not getting your hits, it’s easy to try to hit your way out of it, but to take your walks, to see pitches, in the nine-hole (where Volpe started the season) or leading off, it sets up our lineup for success.”

Rizzo is among a cadre of team veterans who pulled Volpe aside during the first couple of weeks.

“A lot of guys did,” said Aaron Judge who, from pretty much the first day of the spring took Volpe under his wing. “All of us just collectively telling him that, hey, don’t worry about the first couple of weeks, we still have (137) games or whatever to play. Things are going to happen. You’re going to have down time, the league’s going to figure you out, you’re going to adjust, you’re going to get hot, you’re going to get cold. It’s just about trying to stay even keeled. He’s going to be just fine.”

Volpe called the support “amazing.”

“Everyone’s been where I am in my career and experienced the ups and downs and realized there’s probably an exaggeration or overemphasis on any good or bad I’m feeling. Just to be able to lean on those guys has been really helpful.”

Volpe said it was “frustrating” not producing hits early, but he made sure not to alter his approach.

“I definitely tried to not change anything and put too much into the results,” he said. “I felt like if the results weren’t there and I was chasing then I’d be worried where I was at. When I knew I wasn’t doing anything like that and adjusting and staying within myself, I knew I was going to be OK.”

By Erik Boland

erik.boland@newsday.comeboland11

Erik Boland started in Newsday's sports department in 2002. He covered high school and college sports, then shifted to the Jets beat. He has covered the Yankees since 2009.