Top prospect Volpe earns starting job with Yankees

Anthony Volpe grew up watching Derek Jeter star at shortstop for the New York Yankees.

Now, the 21-year-old is getting the chance to be the Yankees' opening day shortstop Thursday against the San Francisco Giants.

The team announced on Sunday that Volpe had won the spot.

New York manager Aaron Boone called the kid into his office to deliver the news.

“My heart was beating pretty hard,” said Volpe, rated one of baseball's best prospects. “Incredible. I'm just so excited. It's hard for me to even put into words.”

Volpe, who grew up a Yankees fan, lived in Manhattan as a child before moving to New Jersey. Jeter was his favorite player.

“It's very surreal,” said Volpe, who is 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.

Spring training started with Volpe, Oswald Peraza and holdover Isiah KinerFalefa competing for the everyday shortstop job. KinerFalefa was shifted into a utility role midway through camp.

“While certainly the performance was there, he killed it between the lines,” Boone said of Volpe. “All the other things that we've been hearing about showed up. There's an energy he plays the game with, and an instinct that he has that is evident. Absolutely kicked the door in and earned his opportunity.”

Volpe was selected out of high school with the 30th overall pick in the 2019 draft from Delbarton School in New Jersey. He passed up a college commitment to Vanderbilt to sign with the Yankees.

“It was a once-in-a-lifetime chance to get into the organization,” Volpe said. “This day, this feeling, this moment was kind of what I've worked my whole life for when I made that big decision.”

• The Atlanta Braves will open the season with two rookie left-handers in their rotation while giving righty Kyle Wright more time to prepare for his first start.

Wright was told he would start the season on the 15day injured list. He was a 21game winner last season but had a slow start this spring after getting a cortisone shot in January to address a shoulder issue.

Jared Shuster and Dylan Dodd, who each have impressed this spring while competing for what was believed to have been one rotation spot, were told they will open the season with the team. The Braves optioned Ian Anderson and Bryce Elder to Triple-A Gwinnett on March 14 to clear the path for Shuster and Dodd.

Shuster, 24, was Atlanta's first-round draft pick in 2020. He is expected to start in the Braves' third game at Washington on April 2.

Dodd is expected to take the No. 5 spot and start on April 4 at St. Louis.

Shuster has a 1.45 ERA in five spring training games with 18 strikeouts and only four walks in 18 2/3 innings.

Dodd, 24, has a 2.00 ERA in 18 innings this spring, with 20 strikeouts and four walks. He was a third-round draft pick in 2021.

TENNIS Andreescu tops Kenin in the Miami Open

Bianca Andreescu of Canada — the 2019 U.S. Open champion — beat 2020 Australian Open winner Sofia Kenin of the United States 6-4, 6-4 in the third round of the Miami Open.

Andreescu advanced to the fourth round in Miami for the third time. She had seven aces to Kenin's one and double-faulted only once as she won the third straight matchup between the Grand Slam champions.

In other matches, Ekaterina Alexandrova of Russia defeated world No. 9 Belinda Bencic of Switzerland, the gold medalist at the Tokyo Olympics, 7-6 (8), 6-3; Marketa Vondrousova ousted Karolina Pliskova 6-1, 6-2 in an allCzech matchup and Sorana Cirstea of Romania beat Karolína Muchová of the Czech Republic 7-5, 6-1.

On the men's side, Americans Tommy Paul and No. 10 Taylor Fritz advanced in straight sets.

Paul beat Alejandro Davidovich Fokina of Spain 6-3, 7-5, helped by eight aces.

Fritz defeated Denis Shapovalov of Canada 6-4, 6-4.

Also, world No. 1 Carlos Alcaraz of Spain downed Dusan Lajovic of Serbia 6-0, 7-6 (5) and world No. 8 Rune of Denmark defeated Diego Schwartzman of Argentina 6-4, 6-2.

SOCCER Conte out as manager of EPL's Tottenham

Antonio Conte has left his position as Tottenham manager by mutual agreement, the English Premier League club said Sunday.

The Italian's assistant, Cristian Stellini, has been appointed acting head coach for the rest of the season.

The announcement comes just over a week after Conte delivered a postmatch rant in which he accused the team's players of being “selfish” and also took aim at the club's ownership.

“We have 10 Premier League games remaining and we have a fight on our hands for a Champions League place,” Tottenham chairman Daniel Levy said in a club statement released Sunday night. “We all need to pull together. Everyone has to step up to ensure the highest possible finish for our Club and amazing, loyal supporters.”

Conte was in charge of Tottenham for 16 months but was unable to end its trophy drought stretching back to 2008.

His tenure ended in an undignified way, with his outburst after the 3-3 draw at Southampton making his departure almost inevitable. His contract was due to expire at the end of the season.

The 53-year-old Conte tore into his players for what he perceived to be a poor attitude, accusing them of not playing as a team and failing to deal with pressure, before saying: “20 years there is the (same) owner and they never won something.”

Conte leaves with Tottenham out of the Champions League and FA Cup, ensuring it will not win any silverware this season. But the team is in fourth place in the league and in contention to qualify for the Champions League again next season.

Tottenham appointed former Chelsea manager Conte as the replacement for Nuno Espirito Santo in November 2021, with the club in eighth place. He succeeded in guiding it to a top-four finish.

• Presented with a golden boot before kickoff, Harry Kane's golden touch continued for England as he struck a record-extending 55th goal for his country.

The Tottenham striker had already surpassed Wayne Rooney as the Three Lions' outright leading scorer with his penalty in Thursday's 2-1 win against Italy in Naples.

Back at Wembley, he got the chance to celebrate in front of his home fans with another goal in England's 2-0 win against Ukraine in the qualifiers for the European Championship.