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Key Signs of Growth for Yankees Shortstop in His Sophomore Season

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New York Yankees shortstop Anthony Volpe delivered the team’s signature moment of the World Series so far with a grand slam in an 11-4 Game 4 win.  Volpe has enjoyed a strong postseason overall despite a lack of slug. He has nearly matched the ultra-patient Juan Soto in walk rate while maintaining a tenable strikeout rate.  Many were hoping for the young shortstop to take a leap offensively this season, which unfortunately did not come to fruition. However, there are still plenty of positive elements in his profile that provide a sturdy foundation moving forward.

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Anthony Volpe Showing Signs of Growth Two Seasons In

A Contact-First Approach

Through the first two months of the season, Volpe was focusing on making contact at the expense of power. The results were very good, with a slash line of .282/.352/.432 (125 wRC+).  The quality of contact was noticeably down from his rookie season, but the swing adjustment he made over the offseason to flatten it out and make more contact was working for him. He significantly cut his pull rate as he looked to spray the ball to all parts of the field. This was a significant shift in approach for Volpe. In his rookie season, he sacrificed a higher strikeout rate to pull the ball and make hard contact. While the final line looked a bit bleak at an 82 wRC+, he produced a very exciting 20-20 season.  Here are some key differences from his rookie season to the first two months of his sophomore season:

2023 March 2024 – May 2024
K% 27.8% 20.5%
Contact% 73.4% 81.0%
Barrel% 9.0% 4.3%
Pull% 45.6% 27.3%
GB% 41.1% 50.3%

Along with his new approach, he continued to excel as a defender after winning a Gold Glove last season. This combination proved to be very valuable as Volpe was a top 10 position player by fWAR for the first two months. Given that his max exit velocity, an indicator of raw power, has been below average through his first two seasons at 108.7 MPH, it is possible that this contact-oriented approach better suits him. However, from June forward, Volpe struggled tremendously at the plate.

Regression

From June to the end of the regular season, Anthony Volpe was the third-worst qualified hitter by wRC+ at a poor 62.  A major contributor to his early season hot streak was an unsustainable batting average on balls in play (BABIP). Once that number came back down to earth, along with other areas of regression, there were not many positives and lots of weakly hit groundouts. The quality of contact remained underwhelming and he was unable to maintain the high contact rate that helped propel his hot start.  Ultimately, the approach to cut his strikeout rate in exchange for a loss in power produced a similar final result to his rookie season. However, there was a period in the second half when Volpe made the decision to swing harder after his slap hitting approach faltered.

MLB.com writer Mike Petriello wrote an excellent piece regarding four slap hitter profiles altering their approach to hit for more power, which included Anthony Volpe.  Volpe was looking to get back to pulling the ball more in the second half, which meant he was swinging harder as a result.  As you are looking to make contact out in front of the plate, this allows the bat to get up to speed faster. Out of the All-Star Break, this proved to be effective for him temporarily, as he was hitting the ball hard at a 46.2% rate, but it did not sustain.

Postseason Progress

With the stakes leveled up in the postseason, Volpe has performed very well. He has displayed an incredibly patient approach. Among all hitters in the postseason, he is swinging the least amount by a significant margin as well as chasing pitches outside the zone at the second lowest rate. Volpe has taken the “get a good ball to hit” approach to the extreme. His pitch selection has led to a strong slash line of .273/.407/.386 (132 wRC+) and encouraging underlying results.

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Anthony Volpe is hitting the cover off the ball in the postseason, and his results could be even better. This has all come under the brightest lights and against the highest quality of stuff from pitchers. This is a small sample size, but it is noteworthy that this impressive stretch has come against the best of the best as opposed to a random stretch during the regular season.

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We have seen two different versions of Anthony Volpe through his first two big league seasons. One hit for power while conceding a high strikeout rate, and one sacrificed power to make more contact. With more experience under his belt and self-awareness as a hitter, perhaps Volpe can mold together the positive elements of these separate approaches. The best hitters in baseball can both hit for power and make plenty of contact. These two different seasons for Volpe could allow him to have a malleable approach at the plate. The floor for Anthony Volpe as a player is already very high with his elite defense and baserunning, but the ceiling could be tapped into if he is unlocked as a hitter.

Photo Credit: © Vincent Carchietta-Imagn Images

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