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2019 MLB Draft Preview: Anthony Volpe scouting report
The 2019 MLB Draft is less than a week away — the first round kicks off on June 3, 2019 — so its time to start offering capsule looks at players the Texas Rangers could select with their top picks. The Rangers’ first round pick is at #8, their second round pick is at #50, and they have Milwaukee’s competitive balance pick, acquired in the Alex Claudio trade, which is #41.
Leading up to draft day, we will be doing writeups of some of the players who could end up getting selected by the Rangers with one of their first three picks. Today, we are looking at New Jersey high school shortstop Anthony Volpe.
Anthony Volpe is a 5’11”, 180 lb. shortstop out of Delbarton High School in Morristown, New Jersey — the same school as Jack Leiter. Volpe is a smallish player who is not seen as having a ton of physical projection, and who has significant questions about how much power he projects to have. However, he is considered a terrific defensive shortstop with a good swing, and his makeup and work ethic is said by MLB Pipeline to be 80 grade, and he gets praise for his leadership and energy.
Volpe is ranked #52 on the Baseball America top 100 list, where they praise him for his instincts and ability to perform against high level competition. MLB Pipeline has Volpe at #63 on their list, while Fangraphs has Volpe ranked #27 on their board. Keith Law has Volpe at #90 on his top 100 list.
In their most recent mock draft, Fangraphs mocks Volpe at #20 to the Seattle Mariners, though they note his asking price is seen as a major issue that could see him drop significantly. Baseball America has Volpe going to the Arizona Diamondbacks, who have extra picks (and thus can be flexible about going over-slot), at #26.
Volpe is, like his current (and potential future) teammate Jack Leiter, a Vanderbilt commit who is viewed as being a very tough sign due to bonus demands. Volpe could go in the 20s, or drop out of the top 10 rounds altogether due to signability concerns. As a prep up-the-middle player with great makeup, he’s someone who you could see fitting the Rangers’ profile, particularly if they are, as has been rumored, shifting away from a tools-oriented approach to the draft and are focusing more on skills, even if that means accepting more limited upside. If the Rangers were to go below-slot at #8, Volpe is someone who they would potentially look at at #41 or #50 on an above-slot deal.
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