“Volpe’s on deck.”
Matt Hyde, a Northeast space scout for the Yankees, used to ship that textual content to his colleagues, crosscheckers and superiors at any time when Anthony Volpe stepped to the plate. The messages, which started throughout a match in Jupiter, Fla. in the course of the Fall of Volpe’s senior yr of highschool, additionally included the identify or variety of no matter area his sport occurred on.
They served as an alert: Something thrilling is about to occur. Get your butts over right here.
“It was almost like, ‘Oh shit, here we go,’” Damon Oppenheimer, the Yankees’ director of beginner scouting, instructed the Daily News of the operating gag. “It got to be comical actually because I was so persistent with it,” Hyde added.
By this level, the Yankees had been already effectively acquainted with their future shortstop — Volpe, 21, will begin on Opening Day in opposition to the Giants — thanks largely to Hyde, his first connection to the membership.
He started teaching Volpe and Delbarton teammate Jack Leiter — now within the Rangers’ system — on the Yankees’ under-class Area Code group in the course of the summer time of 2017. The two New Jerseyans then suited up for Hyde’s upper-class squad the next yr.
“The minute I met him, I just thought it was such a great representation of the Yankees organization and what it means to be a Yankee,” Volpe instructed The News. He famous that he cherished Hyde’s ardour on the sphere and the eye he paid to particulars.
Hyde remembers one specific sport that first summer time, in Compton, Calif. when Volpe got here as much as the plate with the bases loaded and his group down three. The speedy teen roped a ball for an inside-the-park grand slam; Volpe blew via a cease signal to attain the successful run.
“He had an incredible knack for making things happen and being a big part of helping the team win,” Hyde instructed The News. “Whether it was making a really good defensive play, coming up with a clutch hit, stealing a base, he always seemed to embrace the moment. And the moments seemed to always find him.”
Those two summers with Hyde laid the groundwork for the Bombers to draft Volpe, a childhood fan of the Yankees and Derek Jeter, with the thirtieth total decide in 2019. Asked if it’s truthful to say Volpe wouldn’t be a Yankee if not for Hyde, the infielder replied “definitely” with out hesitation.
But different members of the group’s scouting division performed pivotal roles in securing a dedication from Volpe, who earned a scholarship to Vanderbilt alongside Leiter.
As Hyde raved about Volpe, Oppenheimer started spending time with the child and his dad and mom, Michael and Isabelle, throughout tournaments and showcases. He got here away enamored with Volpe’s uncooked expertise, but additionally his make-up.
Oppenheimer mentioned that character is an important, if not quantifiable, issue within the Yankees’ scouting course of. It’s partly why he and Hyde had been so excessive on Volpe.
“I tell the scouts, ‘We need to get on the other side of the fence,’” Oppenheimer defined. “Most of the time you think of scouts, we’re sitting in the stands and we’re watching. We obviously do that. But the other part of the job is to get on the other side of the fence and get to know the player, what he’s like in the dugout, what his coaches have to say about him, what his teachers have to say about him. And then, obviously, trying to figure out what his parents are like.”
Jim Hendry, the previous Cubs normal supervisor turned Yankees particular task scout, took that message to coronary heart. The baseball lifer met with Volpe and his dad and mom a couple of occasions earlier than the 2019 draft — along with cellphone calls with Michael — despite the fact that all indicators pointed to Volpe honoring his verbal Vanderbilt dedication.
One specific dinner, a couple of month earlier than the draft, made an enduring impression on the household. Rather than wooing Volpe together with his massive league goals and a signing bonus value tens of millions, Hendry instructed it straight over a meal at Roots Steakhouse in Morristown, New Jersey.
He spoke extremely of Vanderbilt, and he assured Volpe that the college would supply lifelong reminiscences on the sphere and a top-notch training off of it. A former coach at Creighton, Hendry mirrored on his 1991 College World Series expertise and all the enjoyment it introduced him.
“I’ll never BS kids,” Hendry instructed The News. Volpe appreciates that to today.
“He was just super honest with me, and he laid it all out for me. Just the fact that he took the time to talk to me and my family really, really went a long way,” Volpe mentioned. “I don’t know if it was shocking, but the authenticity meant a lot to us.”
But Hendry additionally knew that Volpe and his household cherished the Yankees. If any group was going to sway him from school, it was them. And odds had been that the yearly aggressive franchise would by no means get one other stab at drafting Volpe if he went to highschool and have become the participant Hendry thought he could possibly be — somebody akin to Alex Bregman, who performed shortstop at LSU earlier than manning third for the Astros.
Hendry made certain that Volpe knew all that.
“I said, ‘If you want to be a Yankee, this is your only chance,’” Hendry recalled. “‘Because if you go to Vanderbilt, you’re gonna go out in the first five picks [in three years], and we’re not ever gonna pick at those spots.’”
Those phrases weighed on Volpe, however they didn’t seal the deal on the spot. As the draft drew nearer, he nonetheless noticed school in his fast future.
“It was a pretty thought-out process. I mean, I was probably 95 percent going to Vandy until two weeks before the draft,” Volpe revealed, however he finally settled on the “once in a lifetime opportunity” in entrance of him: a shot to show professional and play for the group he grew up rooting for.
“All things happen for a reason,” Volpe mentioned with a smile, “and they played out pretty well.”
As Volpe ready for his first Opening Day within the Bronx, he wished to be sure that one other Yankees Northeast space scout, the late Kelly Rodman, additionally acquired credit score for the journey that landed him in New York.
Like Hyde, Rodman grew to become extremely shut with the adolescent Volpe. She died of most cancers at age 44 in March 2020 — just some months after she watched Volpe signal his first contract with the Yankees.
On Wednesday, the YES Network’s Jack Curry reported that Volpe will put on No. 11 after donning 77 all spring. Hyde mentioned that Rodman used to sport a No. 11 Yankees jersey in the course of the Area Code Games and different scouting occasions.
Even earlier than that call, Volpe was hooked up to Rodman’s legacy, although he feels her contributions to the Yankees “goes way beyond me.”
“She never wanted to be famous for anything, but everyone that was around the organization and around her knew how important she was,” Volpe continued. “We still do, and we still miss her. At the same time, we know she’s looking down, and we’re trying to make her proud.”
Hyde is assured that Volpe achieved that lengthy earlier than he made the Yankees’ roster. He described Volpe and Rodman as “kindred spirits” and mentioned, “AV has already made her proud by being the person he is and by how he plays the game.”
“She will forever be smiling down on his journey in baseball,” Hyde resumed. “I have a coin from her in my wallet that has on it, ‘Be Great Today!’ She wanted that to be her lasting legacy — give it your best, be the best version of yourself — and no one embodies that spirit more than Anthony Volpe.”
Hyde is actually proud, too. He will likely be in attendance Thursday when Volpe takes the shortstop place at Yankee Stadium for the primary time. It will likely be a celebratory second years within the making for the scout, but additionally the beginning of a model new chapter.
Hyde sees massive issues in Volpe’s future, similar to he has since their first summer time collectively.
“He knows that he hasn’t arrived yet,” Hyde mentioned. “He still has room to grow as a player. He doesn’t believe he’s landed on his full potential yet.”
And as for Volpe’s first at-bat in pinstripes? Hyde already has a textual content ready:
“Volpe on deck. Field — Yankee Stadium.”
()
Source: www.bostonherald.com