Anthony Volpe gets it.
As a childhood Yankees fan, the 23-year-old shortstop did not need a crash course on the organization’s long-standing championship-or-bust mentality.
“I grew up a fan, so what makes the Yankees the Yankees is winning, and winning a World Series,” Volpe said during a team workout ahead of the Yankees’ ALCS series against the Cleveland Guardians.
“For me, that was always the standard, at least from the outside,” he said. “From getting drafted as an 18-year-old and coming up through the system and learning from the inside how they treat the players, it’s first class for a reason, and all the reasons are to win.”
Volpe spent part of his childhood in the Upper East Side and part of it in New Jersey. He attended Yankee playoff games as a fan before the team made him a first-round draft pick out of Morristown’s Delbarton School in 2019.
Now two seasons into his MLB career, Volpe is playing in his first postseason.
“As a fan, you always circle October and maybe wait to go to a big game or something like that, but I don’t think you really appreciate all the stuff it takes to get there for the players and for the team and everyone involved with the team,” Volpe said. “So I think that’s what makes it really cool, is how much hard work goes into it.”
Volpe batted .209 with 21 home runs and 24 stolen bases and won a Gold Glove as a rookie last year, then hit .243 with 12 homers and 28 stolen bases this past regular season.
He went 3-for-12 (.250) with an RBI, a run, a stolen base and four walks in the Yankees’ ALDS win in four games over the Kansas City Royals, batting seventh in every game.
Advanced metrics suggest Volpe was unlikely, however, as he made five outs on batted balls with exit velocities of 96.8 mph or higher, all of which were considered to be hard hit.
“I want to hit the ball hard,” Volpe said. “I want to barrel the ball up, so when that’s happening, I feel like I’m in a good spot, but that’s baseball. You obviously want them to fall, especially this time of year, but I feel like if I stick with my process, stick with my plan, especially against … the pitchers this time of year, I feel like with the larger sample size, it will all work out.”
Each of Volpe’s hits in the ALDS — all singles — recorded exit velocities of 105.7 mph or higher.
“I thought in these games and the week of preparation leading up, he’s looked as good as he has offensively at any time all year,” manager Aaron Boone said. “So I will sign up for what he’s got going on right now.”
Sunday’s workout at Yankee Stadium came in preparation of Monday night’s ALCS Game 1 in the Bronx, marking the Yankees’ first trip to the semifinal round since 2022.
Four wins over the AL Central-winning Guardians would put the Yankees back in the World Series for the first time since 2009, when they beat the Philadelphia Phillies for their 27th championship.
“We certainly understand that we’re playing for a pennant now, for the right to go to the World Series,” said Boone, who is in his seventh year as the Yankees’ manager. “So you’re aware of that. But you’re also like, man, it’s Game 1. We’re trying to get ready for that.”
