"This kid's on fire" - Yankees ace Gerrit Cole marvels at Anthony Volpe's consistent hitting prowess during Diamondbacks clash
New York Yankees shortstop Anthony Volpe is off to a great start this season, hitting near .600 so far.
In Tuesday's game against the Arizona Diamondbacks, Gerrit Cole was mic'd up for an interaction. During that, Anthony Volpe hit a 1-1 fastball from Zac Gallen to the right field for a single. This caught Cole's attention on the air, saying:
"This kid's on fire."
Anthony Volpe is coming off an excellent Spring Training that saw him hitting .314 and compiling 16 hits, five RBIs and one home run. His regular season numbers are even better, with him hitting .563 with an OBP of .650 and an OPS of 1.588. Moreover, he has recorded nine hits, one home run and three RBIs.
Anthony Volpe credits improved swing for good at-bats
Anthony Volpe went 4-for-4 with two doubles, two runs and an RBI in Monday's 5-2 win over the Diamondbacks. After the game, Volpe mentioned the work he has put in to improve his swing that would help him at-bats:
“I just feel like I’m setting myself up to cover a lot of different pitches, different speeds, different locations,” Volpe said. “I can kind of match up. I have confidence that where I’m landing and where I’m getting to is going to help me back up my approach.”
Yankees manager Aaron Boone also pointed out his new swing and how it has helped him since last season when he had a lot of swing-and-misses:
“I think it’s definitely the swing adjustments he’s made,” Boone said.
“Certainly the experience and his aptitude, baseball IQ. But swing-and-miss was an issue for him last year. As I’ve talked about since early in the Spring, you can clearly see he’s worked hard to plug some holes that the league exposed a little bit at times last year.”
Catcher and friend Austin Wells too spoke well about his work ethic, highlighting the results:
“He’s worked really hard, this offseason and this spring, to tighten up some of the things he wanted to tighten up,” Wells said. “It’s showing up right off the bat. Just his work ethic and what he’s able to do when he’s given time to make adjustments, I think it’s one of the best in the game.”
The 23-year-old has started to sting opposing pitchers with his new swing and it remains to be seen if the pitchers can find some fault in his new swing to stop the carnage.