This story was excerpted from Bryan Hoch’s Yankees Beat newsletter. To read the full newsletter, click here. And subscribe to get it regularly in your inbox.
Anthony Volpe charged a few steps to his right, cleanly fielding a bouncing grounder off the bat of the Astros’ Mauricio Dubón, then smoothly launching into the jump throw he has practiced for years.
Volpe had made, to borrow a phrase from legendary broadcaster John Sterling, “a Jeterian play” -- and the young Yankees shortstop executed perfectly, adding a nice moment to his season highlight reel. Asked how many times he’d practiced that particular sequence, Volpe chuckled.
“Probably every time I’ve ever taken ground balls,” Volpe said.
Not to make too much of a single putout in a long season, but Volpe’s fifth-inning sparkler on Saturday at Houston’s Minute Maid Park offers an opportunity to discuss the 22-year-old’s season in the field.
There were plenty of questions about Volpe’s defense coming into Spring Training, with some observers wondering if he had the arm strength that the position demands. Those queries have been silenced.
“I think,” manager Aaron Boone said, “he’s right smack in the middle of the Gold Glove conversation.”
Boone’s claim gains some support from The Fielding Bible, which counted Volpe with 15 total runs saved (in 1,136 2/3 innings) going into Sunday’s series finale. Only the Rays’ Wander Franco (17 total runs saved, in 948 innings) had more, according to its metrics.
Statcast isn’t quite so enthusiastic. It credits Volpe with only three Runs Prevented and four Outs Above Average (OAA), both of which rank him 13th among big league shortstops.
But Volpe has been reliable, posting a .975 fielding percentage with 12 errors while contributing his share at the plate, becoming the first Yankees rookie to tally 20 homers and 20 stolen bases.
“I don’t know if I expected it to be this good, but it is,” Boone said. “He’s a difference maker out there.”
As for Saturday’s play, Boone also saw the parallel to Jeter, the shortstop and captain during his lone season as an active Yankee.
“He took a page out of his guy’s book. Jeets was his guy,” Boone said. “So I’m sure he’s seen that a lot in his mind and in his dreams.”
As the Yankees turn their attention toward tomorrow, highlighted by the callups of prospects like Jasson Domínguez and Austin Wells, Volpe is suddenly almost one of the grizzled veterans in the group.
The Yanks started six players age 25 or below in Saturday’s win at Houston, the first time they’ve done so since Sept. 11, 1969, when Thurman Munson, Bobby Murcer, Ron Blomberg, Stan Bahnsen, Jerry Kenney and Tom Shopay appeared in a loss at Washington.
“I’m probably pretty biased, because I’m so excited and I feel like I’m kind of living through them a little bit,” Volpe said. “But for me personally, I think it’s super exciting.”