WILL THE YANKEES LET ANTHONY VOLPE EMERGE IN 2023?

After watching the ESPN documentary series, "The Captain" I have a new perspective on the emergence of a player from minor league triple A to the major leagues. In all honesty, I did research during my graduate study at Boston University on farm to MLB, the trajectory, who makes it, why, etc. "The Captain" just confirmed the research and it is the impetus of this piece. 

Here's the rub—The Yankees shepherded Derek Jeter into his emergence by having him serve as an apprentice to the Yankees as they competed for the postseason. He learned from some of the greatest players in MLB and it was that internship that had a formative impact on Jeter. My thinking is this—why not follow the same formula with Anthony Volpe. What are they waiting for? Bring him up, let him compete and earn his shot at the bigs. But the question is will the Yankees actually let Anthony Volpe emerge in 2023.

"Shortstop will be a three-way camp battle between Isiah Kiner-Falefa and prospects Oswald Peraza and Anthony Volpe. Kiner-Falefa has experience on his side, but he’s hardly the expected choice after a rocky first season in the Bronx that included a playoff benching. Volpe is New York’s No. 1 prospect and the fifth best in baseball, according to MLB Pipeline, but he will need a monster spring training to win this job, as he’s only played 22 games at Triple-A. Boone expects him to get “a lot of reps” in camp," reported Fan Nation.

Honestly, he does not need a monster spring training. He just needs to be present and he needs to show the team what he can do. If the Yankees wait too long to introduce this guy to real competition, he will never evolve like Jeter did. And when he does, it will be too late, because the Yankees won't be able to protect him and he will emerge to another team.

Jeter had a terrible spring training before he made it to the Yankees as their full time shortstop. Why are the Yankees and the press putting so much pressure on Volpe? Let him play. Let him fail because it is through this experience he will emerge. What is the alternative? Isiah Kiner-Falefa? How'd that experiment go last year?

Volpe could be the next Jeter. So let him go out there and earn those pinstripes. Let him fail so he can emerge. Otherwise what we have is a subpar infield—the same one we had in 2022. And guess what it isn't going to get the Yankees any further than it did last year. 

--Suzie Pinstripe
BYB Senior Managing Editor
Twitter: @suzieprof