ANTHONY VOLPE – GOES #1 TO CORKTOWN
MWBL Draft Central – February 19th, 2022 – 10:45 AM ET
With the number 1 pick in the 2022 MWBL draft, the Corktown Cycle has selected from the New York Yankees organization, Shortstop Anthony Volpe. Drafted with the 30th overall pick in the 2019 MLB draft, Volpe appears to be more of a late bloomer. After a sub-par rookie ball season in 2019 and not being able to showcase his skills in 2020 due to the pandemic, Volpe shot out of a cannon with his A ball numbers in 2021. The most eye-opening in Low A Tampa He had more walks (51) than strikeouts (43) featuring his plate discipline. Volpe may not have the highest ceiling among available players in this draft, but his floor may be higher than anyone. Volpe becomes the first player from the Yankees organization Ito be selected first overall in the MWBL draft. SS Gleyber Torres (Selkirk) and P Masahiro Tanaka (Manhattan) both went #2 overall. This is the 2nd time Corktown selected a Yankee prospect as they took NYY OF Blake 
Rutherford #7 overall in 2017.
Corktown has decided to stack the deck on shortstop prospects as Volpe joins an already high-rated SS Giants prospect Marco Luciano in the Corktown farm system. The Cycle recently lost Royce Lewis due to coverage, but consider Volpe a nice upgrade at the spot. Corktown is very confident Volpe’s offensive numbers will continue to impress as he rises up the system. With many owners in agreement, there was no clear-cut number one overall selection Cycle owner Chris DeMercurio said his team is at the beginning of a long stretch of winning and has the ability to sit on Volpe as he continues to develop. “Defense is somewhere that we see room for improvement, but this is something that our organization is glad to help make Anthony a superstar in this league.” Noted DeMercurio. Corktown took a step back in 2021 with the league’s worst record. DeMercurio was not worried about the poor performance on a shortened season saying his team is no longer on the brink. He is done warning the fans to be patient as the Cycle stick to the plan and expect to see a new brand of Cycle baseball and Corktown starting in 2022 claiming “The Cycle is poised not to just make the playoffs year in and year out, but to compete for banners to hang in their stadium for their fans. We no longer have to sit and wait for guys like Anthony to arrive at the big leagues.”