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Individual accolades don't equate to a championship, but they at least provide the building blocks for a championship teams. Anthony Volpe did the unthinkable this year, and stepped into the shortstop role as a rookie. A Yankee fan at birth, and fanbase that was proclaiming him the next Derek Jeter, Volpe had a lot of pressure placed on his shoulders, and pieced together a nice season for a 22 year old kid in the Big Apple.
A few weeks ago, manager Aaron Boone said Volpe had a real change to win the Gold Glove, and tonight he became the first rookie in franchise history to take home the award. For Yankee standards, it was a season that was tumultuous, but for a rookie playing under the big and bright lights, his season should be counted as a win.
Volpe was the first Yankees rookie to join the 20-20 club. On the defensive side, he showed promise, finishing second among AL shortstops with 15 Defensive Runs Saved, per FanGraphs, and was tied for sixth with one Out Above Average, per Baseball Savant. His batting average could have been higher and he did make plenty of errors, but let's not knock him down, these are accomplishments worth admiring. This was the first season of hopefully an indefinite career in pinstripes. Hopefully the Yankees build around the young prodigy.