Anthony Volpe earns starting role at shortstop for the Yankees

They’ve experimented with Didi Gregorius, Gleyber Torres, Oswald Peraza, Isiah Kiner-Falefa, and Anthony Volpes since the retirement of Jeter, but decided to give Anthony Volpe a crack at the position during this year’s spring training. The Yankees took a stab at Carlos Correa, Trea Turner, and Dansby Swanson. But, the Yankees let most of the rookies fight it out at spring training.

Throughout spring training Kiner-Falefa was getting a lot of innings at shortstop getting 39 at-bats and only hitting .256, while Volpe was hitting .314 with three homers, five RBIs, and a .417 on-base percentage in 17 Grapefruit League games. He has just 22 games of experience at Triple-A. 

Peraza impressed in a small sample down the stretch last season, slashing .306/.404/.429 in just 18 games following his September 2nd debut. In deciding who to have the opening day start, the Yankees took into consideration defense-wise too. IFK and even Torres were both poor defenders; Peraza was a great defender but had some issues at the plate; he had poor ABTs during the spring, but when the Yankees were making their postseason run, they wanted him to start at shortstop. It was enough to earn him a spot on the Yankees' postseason roster. 

Even with Peraza getting a taste of the postseason, it still wasn't enough for the Yankees to bring him back. In the long run, the Yankees ended up deciding on Anthony Volpe, at only 21 years, only one of the youngest shortstops since Derek Jeter in 1996. To be the starting shortstop for the Yankees meant the world to Volpe, being able to play in front of his family and even his hometown team.