Down on the Farm - 6/8/22

Prospect spotlight on Anthony Volpe (NYY), Rockies recall Elehuris Montero, Henry Davis (PIT) back on the field, Casey Mize (DET) shutdown with elbow soreness, Joe Maddon and "real baseball people"

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Prospect Spotlight

Anthony Volpe, SS (21) - R/R, 5' 11" / 180 - Yankees (AA)

Last week: .263/.333/.526, 21 PA, 5 H, 1 HR, 5 K, 0 BB

The Yankees selected Volpe with the 30th overall pick in 2019 draft out of Delbarton HS in NJ. After a mediocre start to his professional career in rookie ball during 2019, Volpe worked hard to overhaul both his body and swing. He reportedly gained 15-20 pounds of muscle and cleaned-up his mechanics while working with his personal hitting instructor during the missed COVID season.

From this piece about Volpe from early in 2021:

“Jason Lefkowitz — Volpe’s personal hitting instructor — has worked with Volpe on taking parts of (Alex) Bregman’s swing and applying it to the shortstop. When the pandemic hit, Volpe sought him out after he hit just .215 with a couple homers in 34 games with rookie-level Pulaski in 2019, a season also marred by a mononucleosis diagnosis.”

“Lefkowitz and Volpe recorded, watched and dissected each of the prospect’s swings. “We cleaned up his bat path, his direction and his adjustability,” said Lefkowitz. “The ability to hit anything in any count in any situation at any occasion. Giving him the largest margin of error to fail and still succeed is what we’re trying to accomplish. Finding the right positions to hit from and then hitting in those positions.”

Volpe responded with a monster 2021 season in which he hit .294/.423/.605 (.449 wOBA) with 27 home runs and 33 stolen bases in 513 plate appearance across two levels (A, A+). Volpe has a good feel for contact and has shown more game power than many expected this early in his career. He has a relatively patient approach at the plate and has shown a knack for getting on base via the free pass.

Volpe started slowly in Somerset (AA) this year, hitting just .197/.329/.364 (95 wRC+) with two home runs in April. Although he was maintaining a high walk rate (15%), he was striking out more than he had been in previous seasons (27%). As you can see below, Volpe’s swinging strike rate spiked early this season, well above his 2021 rate. This isn’t a total surprise given that he is a 20-year-old facing Double-A pitching for the first time in his career.