Yankees welcome Anthony Volpe to Opening Day roster: 'You earned it'

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Anthony Volpe’s dream has come true.

The New York Yankees officially made the rookie shortstop a part of their Opening Day roster on Sunday. The team posted a video of manager Aaron Boone and general manager Brian Cashman giving Volpe the news. Boone got really serious with Volpe before telling him the good news.

"This is a difficult conversation I have to have because you came in and played your a-- off," Boone said. "We talked about at the start of this it being a competition, and you killed it. But at the end of the day, you got 20-something games at Triple-A."

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Aaron Boone #17 of the New York Yankees looks on during batting practice prior to a Grapefruit League Spring Training game against the Pittsburgh Pirates at George M. Steinbrenner Field on March 06, 2023 in Tampa, Florida. (Julio Aguilar/Getty Images)

"There’s always room for development, but at the end, I think that development should happen at the big leagues. Welcome to New York."

The steely looks turned to smiles as Boone shook Volpe’s hand.

"You earned it," Boone said.

Volpe tried to put his emotions into words when he spoke to the media after the announcement. He said he was "so excited" to be a part of the 2023 Opening Day roster.

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"My heart was beating pretty hard, but I don’t know, I don’t really have too many words right now," a beaming Volpe told reporters.

New York Yankees Infielder Anthony Volpe (77) throws the ball over to first base during the spring training game between the Minnesota Twins and the New York Yankees on March 24, 2023 at George M. Steinbrenner Field in Tampa, FL. (Cliff Welch/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)

Volpe, who is from Watchung, New Jersey, was a first-round pick of the Yankees in 2019 and was given a non-roster spring training invite. He grew up a Yankees fan living in North Jersey.

"I've never really had a choice," he told MLB.com of his Yankees fandom. "It was kind of all or nothing since I could remember. But my parents and grandparents and my whole family are super, big Yankees fans. And I definitely got lucky growing up and being able to go to a couple games and really not having a choice but then falling in love with the team myself."

In 17 games in spring training, he hit .314 with a 1.064 OPS, three home runs and six doubles.

The 21-year-old shortstop is set to be in the infield with Anthony Rizzo, Gleyber Torres and Josh Donaldson in the first series of the season.

Anthony Volpe #77 of the New York Yankees runs during a spring training game against the Minnesota Twins on March 13, 2023 at the Hammond Stadium in Fort Myers, Florida. (Brace Hemmelgarn/Minnesota Twins/Getty Images)

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New York begins the 2023 season at home against the San Francisco Giants on Thursday.