MLB Draft 2019: Yankees select Anthony Volpe 30th overall

With their first pick in the 2019 MLB Draft, the Yankees selected Anthony Volpe at 30th overall. Volpe is a 5-foot-11, 188 pound shortstop from Delbarton School in Morristown, NJ.

MLB Pipeline ranked him no. 63 on their top 200 list, while Baseball America had him at no. 52 on their 500 list. Evaluators regarded Volpe as solid defender at short, but more of a second-round talent in the draft.

While he has essentially no power, Volpe does hit to all fields. The Vanderbilt commit also has strong leadership qualities, which the Yankees love. Consider this excerpt from his scouting report at MLB Pipeline:

“Volpe is the kind of player who grows on evaluators the more they see him, with his whole being greater than the sum of his parts. He gets an 80 on the 20-to-80 scouting scale for his makeup and work ethic. He does have a solid approach at the plate with excellent bat control and while he doesn’t have a ton of power, there is enough strength to keep pitchers honest, like when he went deep at the NHSI.”

That the Yankees chose a shortstop shouldn’t come as a surprise. It seems like the Yankees were connected to infielders all spring. The question with Volpe, however, comes to his rankings. He probably would have been available at pick number 38, or maybe even 67. So why did the Yankees take him with the 30th overall pick?

Perhaps the Yankees are trying to manipulate the bonus pool? Or maybe they’re reverting to the “draft makeup over talent” strategy they employed from 2010-2012. Those picks didn’t work out all that well, so here’s hoping it’s the former.