Yankees' Aaron Boone unsurpris...

Anthony Volpe is one of many young prospects at Yankees spring training this season. However, he may be the name fans and the organization have their eyes on the closest, and for good reason. The Yankees’ No. 1 prospect is at spring training with shortstop being a huge question mark heading into Opening Day. While incumbent shortstop Isiah Kiner-Falefa and Oswald Peraza -- the team’s No. 3 prospect -- are battling for the position, Volpe may have something to say about that. While many believe the 21-year-old will start the season in Triple-A, where he had just 99 at-bats last year, his impressive spring isn’t going unnoticed. “I’ve got high expectations, and [Volpe’s] come in and gotten after it,” manager Aaron Boone told reporters after Thursday's game. “It’s in line with the reputation he’s earned in our organization. He works hard. You can tell he loves the game. I think of our captain, Aaron Judge -- one of the things that stands out is he loves the game. So you get into the little things, watching and looking to find a little bit of an edge -- he’s always doing that.” So far this spring, Volpe is 4-for-11 (.364) with a double, two stolen bases and a home run to lead off Thursday’s 9-1 spring training win. On a 2-2 count, Volpe launched an 84 mph breaking pitch over the wall. “Definitely felt good. I was just trying to lead the game off strong and have a good at-bat for the team,” Volpe said of his home run after the game. “I saw a couple of those pitches pretty well, but was just trying to put the ball on the bat with two strikes.” “He’s strong,” Boone said. “Great lower half. He stays in the ground really well. You see him kind of sit down in his leg. He doesn’t get cheated. He has a really good swing. He could drive the ball out the other way. He’s not tall, but he’s thick and pretty stout. [The power] is not surprising.” It shouldn’t be too surprising to see Volpe get a hold of one this spring. He had 21 home runs between Double-A and Triple-A last season and 50 overall in two full minor league seasons. But whether Volpe ends up on the Opening Day roster isn’t up to him. The organization will decide whether they’re willing to give him a chance or if he needs some more experience in Triple-A. Whatever the case, Volpe is just excited to be playing baseball.

“Just great to play again. With a bunch of great teammates and guys who have been down here for awhile,” he said. “We’ve been training really hard and we had these days circled on the calendar to get back on the field, and get back competing against other guys, and not just each other.”