The future of the New York Yankees took to the field Wednesday night in Bridgewater.

Anthony Volpe loved watching Yankees legend Derek Jeter play. Jeter was a shortstop from Pequannock, while Volpe is a shortstop from Watchung.

At age 20, Volpe is one of the highest-rated prospects in all of minor league baseball.

“I don’t want anything to be handed or promised or anything like that. I got a lot of work to do and I gotta prove it,” Volpe says.

And he is doing just that. Volpe has been promoted since being drafted a few years ago out of Delbarton High School. He is set to play for the Somerset Patriots, the Yankees AA farm team.

"You know his prospect status and all the attention and buzz he's getting off the field, that kinda goes out the door and now it's time to show up and play, and that's what Anthony does best,” says Patriots manager Dan Fiorito.

Yankees manager Aaron Boone says Volpe's attention to detail reminds him of Yankees right fielder Aaron Judge.

“Players like us, all the guys in the clubhouse, we strive to be like guys like Judge, so we definitely got a long way to go,” Volpe says of the comparison.

A self-described homebody, Volpe says he is happy to be playing in his home state for now. He says it means more family time.

“The last couple of weeks being home we watched some old videos of me reciting the lineups, stuff like that when I was 2 or 3,” Volpe says.

He especially loved watching baseball in 2009, the last Yankees team to win a World Series.

The first chance to watch Volpe play for the Patriots will be Tuesday night.