The New York Yankees’ shortstop of the future, Anthony Volpe, has yet to find his “sea legs,” in the majors, as general manager Brian Cashman quipped. But he’s getting quite a bit of leeway to find his footing and navigate toward calmer waters.
“We have no doubt about that and he’ll join the party as a contributing member more so than not,” Cashman said. “He’s contributing to us in smaller ways but there’s obviously a bigger portion of his game that we look forward to seeing as the season plays on. We’re not shying away from Anthony Volpe. We believe in him., we’re invested in him, and we know that there’s a payoff there for us as long as we walk that tightrope with him.”
It’s a sizable vote of confidence for the 22-year-old, who is slashing just .191/.265/.350 (.614 OPS) with nine home runs and 27 RBI in a team-leading 73 games played this season.
The lack of offensive production becomes even more glaring when considering the Yankees are attempting to keep pace with the likes of the Tampa Bay Rays and Baltimore Orioles without Aaron Judge in the lineup. All the while, prospect Oswald Peraza is ripping it up in Triple-A with a .923 OPS, 11 home runs, and 24 RBI in 34 games.
Cashman, however, doesn’t see the 23-year-old infielder as a viable option to potentially take at-bats and playing time away from Volpe.
“That’s not a priority that we’re pursuing or discussing at all,” Cashman said. “We are very happy with Peraza and we feel we have two high-end players. One is currently playing at the major-league level, one is sitting there biding his time in Triple-A.
“It’s a great situation to be in especially as we move forward, but no, we’ve got nothing but full support for Volpe as he develops up here. For Peraza, he’s finishing off his development down there.”
