The New York Yankees gave top prospect Anthony Volpe the news every young ballplayer is waiting for: He made the team after an exceptional spring training performance.
But first, they had a little fun with the 21-year-old shortstop.
In a hidden-camera prank, Volpe is called into the manager’s office, where Aaron Boone begins the meeting with a baseball cliche that often precedes bad news.
“It’s a difficult conversation to have to have because you came in and played your ass off,” Boone begins.
The manager’s tone suggests Volpe is being sent back down to the minors. Instead, Volpe gets the best news a young ballplayer could hope for: He’s on the team.
“Welcome to New York,” Boone tells him in the video (above). “You earned it.”
“My heart was beating pretty hard,” Volpe told reporters later.
Volpe is the first rookie to start Opening Day with the MLB squad since slugger Aaron Judge did it in 2017. MLB.com notes that the 21-year-old will be the youngest Yankee to start the season opener since Derek Jeter in 1996.
The Yankees begin the season at home on Thursday against the San Francisco Giants.
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