DOING A HAL OF A JOB
Volpe earns praise from Steinbrenner after another solid spring performance
What is left for him to do? Anthony Volpe has blown his competition out of the water this spring and that continued on Wednesday afternoon in the Yankees’ 9-8 loss to the Phillies at George M. Steinbrenner Field in Tampa. The 21-year-old top prospect was 1-for-2 including an RBI single off Gregory Soto, one of the game’s top relievers, with a stolen base and he made a series of acrobatic defensive plays.
Volpe is slashing .333/.459/.667 with two homers, four doubles and five stolen bases this spring. The New Jersey native has been the clear top performer and has pushed himself into the conversation to break camp with the Bombers despite not being on the 40-man roster.
“Whoever is going to be the best fit and the best choice and contribute the most to the team [is who I want to be the shortstop],” said Yankees owner Hal Steinbrenner on the YES Network after Wednesday’s game. “And right now I think that’s still up in the air. It’s been fun to watch...
“He’s just a really tough guy. Very professional, work ethic impeccable, everything you need to perform in New York which we all know is a difficult place to play in any sport. He’s just got all of those things. He conducts himself as if he’s been here five years...
“[Volpe not being on the 40-man roster] is not something that’s going to sway me one way or another. I want the best person there at that position March 30.”
The other contenders in the shortstop competition are a few steps behind in terms of Grapefruit League performance. Oswald Peraza is 4-for-20 this spring and incumbent Isiah Kiner-Falefa is 5-for-22 and will begin taking reps in the outfield as soon as Friday against the Tigers.
The Yanks have been touting a shortstop competition since the offseason including the reported phone call from GM Brian Cashman to Volpe letting him know he’d be in the mix. Volpe has been the winner in a runaway contest with spring training winding down, however, it remains to be seen if this was truly a competition.
SEVY STRUGGLES AGAIN
Luis Severino continued his poor spring on Wednesday afternoon.
The right-hander surrendered four runs in 2.1 innings of work. Severino was pulled from the first inning after working into a jam and throwing 30 pitches but then went back out to pitch the second and third innings getting his total up to 61 pitches.
Severino’s spring ERA is up to 10.64.
“The first inning, the fastball was a little wild,” said Severino. “A couple of walks there, couldn’t finish that inning, but after that I got a chance to regroup and did a great job. I was just thanking god it’s spring training. It was terrible. The life of my fastball was really good just it was the location in that first inning was all over the place...
“I feel great, I feel healthy. I think [this is the best I’ve felt] since ‘17 or ‘18 being in spring training healthy that I need to work on pitches and not worry about my arm or my health so right now I’m just happy where I am.”
Severino made 19 starts for the Bombers last season. The 29-year-old posted a 3.18 ERA in his first full season back from Tommy John Surgery.
WHAT’S NEXT?
The Yankees will take on the Pirates Thursday afternoon in Tampa.