TAMPA, Fla. — The hardest-hit ball of Anthony Volpe’s career came last Thursday when the New York Yankees’ shortstop crushed a pitch from Philadelphia Phillies All-Star reliever Matt Strahm, launching it 386 feet at 110 mph. That home run was a reminder of the power Volpe showcased throughout his minor-league career, which ultimately propelled him to become the Yankees’ No. 1 prospect. But it was also a reminder of what he has lacked throughout his first two seasons in the big leagues.
Volpe is only 3-for-16 in spring training so far, but there are signs of the offensive potential the club believed it was getting when he won the shortstop job out of camp three years ago. The 23-year-old is swinging the bat harder than ever and making contact harder than he has displayed in his career. Though the sample is too small to make broad conclusions, it builds on the momentum Volpe generated in October. Volpe was the Yankees’ third-best hitter in the postseason behind Juan Soto and Giancarlo Stanton. And this came after another disappointing regular season for the shortstop, when he finished with an OPS below .700 for the second straight year.
Despite being a below-league-average hitter in his first two years in MLB, Volpe has had stretches when his offensive potential is clear. In the first 17 games after last season’s All-Star break, Volpe posted a 169 wRC+ with five home runs. From the end of that period through the rest of the regular season, only Tommy Pham was a worse hitter in MLB. But when the games mattered most in October, Volpe produced.
Tie game courtesy of Volpe 💪 pic.twitter.com/jNdZqlkVCK
— New York Yankees (@Yankees) February 27, 2025
Yankees manager Aaron Boone noticed in the five days between the club’s final regular-season game and the start of the American League Division Series that Volpe’s mechanics looked in sync. It resulted in a higher average bat speed, higher exit velocities and better results. That wasn’t necessarily by design.
“I was definitely not trying to do that,” Volpe said. “I was just getting my legs a little more balanced. It’s weird. When I do that, swinging feels more effortless. It’s a great feeling all around and just kind of what I’ve kept working on and building on this offseason.
“I was getting to 50-50 where I have even weight on both of my legs. My first year, I was hanging back. When I got in a bad spot last year, I felt like I was crashing forward. So, I needed to get into a spot where I’m not committing too early. I know I can be more powerful when I have both my legs under me. When I don’t, it’s hard to perform. That’s what I felt. What’s nice was the feeling of what I was doing and then watching the video was lining up, so I could really buy into it.”
This spring, only St. Louis Cardinals third baseman Nolan Arenado has seen a higher increase in his bat speed from 2024 than Volpe. This is important because research shows that the faster a player swings the bat, the more power they’re able to generate. If a player has a low bat speed, they typically survive in MLB because their bat-to-ball skills are so advanced (think Cleveland Guardians outfielder Steven Kwan or San Diego Padres infielder Luis Arráez). Volpe’s zone contact percentage has been slightly below league average in his first two seasons. Generating faster swings is how Volpe could have more success at the plate.
Although Volpe was born into a baseball era in which analytics reign supreme, he considers himself more of an old-school type of player. He had no idea that his bat speed was higher in October than it was in the regular season. All he knew was that the feeling he had in the batter’s box felt different than it had for months.
“I remember you asked me last year if I was trying to swing harder, but when I try to swing harder, it doesn’t work,” Volpe said. “Me trying to muscle up to swing harder doesn’t work for me. It was great that the playoffs reinforced a lot of things. I saw the ball was coming off really good. I think that’s when you can use data to back up what you’re feeling because if it’s good, it helps you just be more confident. Hearing these things and learning what happened helped reinforce everything.”
A FULL CIRCLE MOMENT FOR ANTHONY VOLPE!
GRAND SLAM. @YANKEES LEAD! #WORLDSERIES pic.twitter.com/X754vjoPGe
— MLB (@MLB) October 30, 2024
One area of discussion surrounding Volpe entering the 2025 season is what his approach at the plate will be. In his rookie season, Volpe was a high-strikeout hitter who sacrificed contact for power. In Year 2, however, Volpe appeared to make a concerted effort to prioritize contact over power, regardless of the quality of that contact. A storyline last spring training was Volpe flattening his bat path in the offseason, which was meant to make more contact. The thought was Volpe would marry his power with better bat-t0-ball skills, but the result was a slightly worse hitter in Year 2 with less slug.
Volpe said there was a disconnect with people believing he actively changed his approach. He believes he’s best when he stays through the middle of the field. At Yankee Stadium, Volpe sees success when batted balls travel in the gaps between the home and visitors bullpens. He believes his approach was out of sync more often than not in 2024 because of the weight-shift problem he expressed above. What gives him and the Yankees confidence that Year 3 could result in a better version of himself is that he now knows how to fix the problem if it emerges again.
“I think his offense will eventually catch up with his defense,” Boone said earlier in camp. “He’s clearly had his ups and downs offensively. The first few years of his career has shown you what he’s certainly capable of. (He’s) coming off a postseason, offensively, that was what you envision him being.”
Volpe has been one of the best defensive shortstops in the league since making his debut, winning a Gold Glove in his first year and being a finalist in his second season. There’s no question that defensively, the Yankees are set at shortstop. The final piece is what he can be offensively. Another season of an OPS below .700 will only lead to more questions about whether he should be the Yankees’ shortstop long-term.
But after an impressive October and a reassuring offseason, Volpe believes he’s due for an offensive breakout.
“I feel like I could be a really dangerous player and a really good player for this team when I’m doing that,” Volpe said. “I truly do believe that every number you could want and this team expects out of me will happen.”
(Photo: Kim Klement Neitzel / Imagn Images)
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