New York Yankees shortstop Anthony Volpe has had an up-and-down debut season.
It’s not easy to jump all the way to The Show with just a handful of Triple-A plate appearances in the bag, but Volpe earned the job fair and square in spring training.
Overall, he has struggled a bit at the plate, but that doesn’t mean there haven’t been any positives.
On Wednesday, he hit the first grand slam of his career.
Grand slam No. 1 for Anthony Volpe. 😤 pic.twitter.com/GOyNC6GaP9
— MLB (@MLB) May 10, 2023
The drive came in Wednesday’s matinee against the A’s.
Volpe launched the blast against right-hander Rico Garcia in the fifth inning as part of a seven-run rally.
Including the impressive homer, Volpe is slashing .206/.302/.351 with four round-trippers and 11 stolen bases on the year.
His .653 OPS indicates he has a lot of room to improve.
He just turned 22 and is already hitting grand slams in the majors, so things could be a lot worse.
Both defensively and offensively, Volpe has represented an upgrade over Isiah Kiner-Falefa, last season’s starting shortstop.
The Yankees must be patient to let him work through his struggles and make something good out of it.
He seems to be close to breaking out of his funk and the home run proves that.
He has the potential of being the Yankees’ best player after Aaron Judge for the next decade.
The competition wasn’t the best, but it still was nice to see Volpe launch a home run, and a grand slam at that.
He is the present and the future of the Yankees.
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