Yankees sign top draft choice Anthony Volpe, making his 'dream come true'

Anthony Volpe grew up a Yankee fan. His favorite player is Derek Jeter and, in high school, he wore No. 7, for his grandfather’s favorite player, Mickey Mantle. He’s been to Yankee Stadium plenty of times, but not like this.

"This" was Monday, when Volpe, the Yankees' first-round draft pick out of Delbarton School in New Jersey, officially decided to forgo Vanderbilt University and sign with the Yankees. For the occasion, he wore a grey blazer, a white shirt, blue pants and tie, and blue and white shoes — all matching a blue-and-white Yankees cap. And a wide smile he couldn’t wipe off his face.

“It’s a dream come true,” said the shortstop, who was drafted 30th overall. “It was the hardest decision of my life to pass up the college experience … but the opportunity to play with the New York Yankees, who I’ve been dreamed about playing  for my entire life, to put everything, my concentration, as far as I possibly could to pursue my goal” was just too good to give up.

There are sacrifices, of course. Vanderbilt easily could win a national championship, and he’ll have to leave behind his Delbarton teammate, Jack Leiter— Al’s son — who’s decided to pitch for the Commodores. Jack, too, was drafted by the Yankees.

But Volpe said he was ready for this next chapter. He leaves Friday for Tampa and looks forward, he said, to the grind of the minor leagues [Mr. Leiter prepared him for what to expect, he said]. And he wants to come back here again, and soon.

Until then, he’ll enjoy this whirlwind. He was drafted on June 3  and won a state championship title three days later with Delbarton. He has chatted with manager Aaron Boone, toured the Stadium, and has fielded calls and messages that have put his phone’s battery life in real jeopardy.

“Right after they called my name, my phone was probably at 40 percent battery, and as soon as my name was called it was non-stop buzzing and it died within five minutes,” he said. “The fan support — the night of the draft they scoured my social media to see if I was in fact a Yankee fan — and they found a couple tweets …The reaction has been really awesome.”

One of Monday's highlights, he said, was getting to talk to all the players, many of whom told him to get up here as soon as he can. The best, he said, was Brett Gardner. “He told me not to throw my helmet,” Volpe said.

“I’m even more inspired and motivated,” he said. “I’m someone who will do everything humanly possible to help the team win…Whatever the team needs, they can count on me.”

Voit, Sanchez lead All-Star voting

Major League Baseball released its preliminary All-Star voting, and two Yankees are at the top of their categories: Gary Sanchez with 737,107 votes and Luke Voit with 393,356.

“It’s pretty cool,” said Voit, adding that he always dreamed of making the All-Star Game. “It helps being in New York, but it shows I'm turning into a fan favorite. That's pretty awesome. These fans love me. I get those 'Luke' chants all the time. I appreciate it.”

And Voit, who’s been a part of two home-run derbies in lower levels, said he absolutely would participate in the MLB home-run derby if given the chance. He even has a batting practice pitcher picked out— a friend named Aaron Basler who works at the Missouri training academy, where Voit does his off-season work.

“Oh, I’m in,” Voit said. “Let’s go. I wanna play. I 100 percent do. Hell yeah.”

Injury updates

Dellin Betances (lat), who is still a little sore, will undergo an MRI Tuesday, Aaron Boone said. Domingo German (left hip flexor strain) had a clean MRI and was given a cortisone shot. It’s unlikely he’ll travel with the team when its road trip starts Thursday, Boone said, but it might be possible to see him after that. Aaron Judge (oblique) is making significant progress and could potentially play in minor-league rehab games as soon as this weekend. Giancarlo Stanton (calf) is to play with Tampa Tuesday and Wednesday, and then join Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre on Friday.

By Laura Albanese

laura.albanese@newsday.com@AlbaneseLaura

Laura Albanese is the Mets beat writer for Newsday. She's been covering MLB since 2014 after starting at Newsday as an intern seven years earlier.