There's a small chance that Anthony Volpe could still become something.
I've bashed him quite a bit on here and I'm not a believer. But he was a highly rated prospect who was thought to be solid power hitting SS.
I'm trying to find something in his numbers to give me hope. And the only thing I can think of now is that he has to get stronger. Putting aside that he looked lost at times and took too many strikes, he really did not make hard contact in 2024 the way he did in 2023.
He cut down his strikeouts but this barrel rate went from 9% to 3.9%. You cannot be successful at this level when you're a soft hitter like that....unless you're Luis Arraez.
His groundball rate went up last year. His pull rate went down. There were times I thought he should go the other way, but he also sat on balls he should have turned on early in the count.
That said, he does have good contact ability.
I just think this kid needs to get in the gym, and work with somebody to find a way to generate more power. It's not like it's impossible. Mookie Betts is a similar size as Volpe and generates considerably more pop.