BALTIMORE Anthony Volpe and Gunnar Henderson have been cro sing paths since they were in high school. Now they seem poised to have a young, star shortstop battle within the AL East for years to come. Henderson is off to a blazing start for the Orioles, hitting his 10th home run of the season in Mondays 2-0 win over the Yankees, while Volpe has shown early signs of making a big leap himself in his sophomore season. Getty Images I think theyre both going to have really succe sful, long careers, manager Aaron Boone said before the on Tuesday night at Camden Yards. Obviously what Gunnars doing, we saw it most of the year last year, just how dynamic an all-around player he is. Obviously Anthony, we feel like hes going to be our shortstop for a long, long time. Were seeing him continue to get better and better. I think both organizations are in really good shape from a shortstop standpoint for a number of years. The two members of the 2019 draft cla s Volpe going 30th to the Yankees and Henderson 42nd (the first pick of the Greg Luzinski Jersey second round) to the Orioles are both capable of impacting the game in multiple ways, whether from their spots atop the lineup or in the field. Explore More The AL East once had young shortstops Derek Jeter and Nomar Garciaparra going head-to-head at the heart of the Yankees-Red Sox rivalry. Volpe and Henderson have some work to do before any of those comparisons begin, but they have the potential to be right in the middle of the Yankees and Orioles battle for the division this year and beyond. Go beyond the box score with the Bombers Sign up for Inside the Yankees by Greg Joyce, exclusively on Sports+. Thank you By clicking above you agree to the and . Enjoy this Post Sports+ exclusive newsletter! Its going to be neat seeing those two go at it for a long time, Orioles veteran catcher James McCann said. Henderson, the reigning AL Rookie of the Year who is two months younger than Volpe, led the American League with 2.1 fWAR entering Tuesday. Yankees superstar Juan Soto (who, it should be noted, is only le s than three years older than Henderson) was close behind in second at 1.9 fWAR, but Volpe was seventh at 1.5 fWAR. (Fourth on that list is another young star shortstop, the Royals Bobby Witt Jr. with a 1.7 fWAR, who was drafted second-overall in 2019.) Gunnar Henderson of the Baltimore Orioles hits a lead off home run in the first inning on May 29. Getty Images The thing that people lose track of is [Henderson] is still so young, McCann said of the 22-year-old. I mean, hes not far removed from the minor leagues and not far removed from high school baseball. So I think the coolest thing is hes performing so well, yet theres still a maturation proce s hes going to undergo. Theres still him continuing to develop maybe not as much physically as it is mentally. Thats going to happen really [by] accident through in-game experience. Hes going to be logging at-bats off pitchers that hell see for the next several years and creating that memory bank that hes going to lean on in the future. So I think its neat to see the succe s hes having now, but I also think when you look at the big picture, its kind of scary what he could potentially be doing in two or three years. By crushing his 10th home run in his first 28 games of the season on Monday night against Clarke Schmidt, Henderson became the youngest player in MLB history to reach double-digit home runs before May 1. The left-handed hitter came into Tuesdays game batting .289 with a .983 OPS and six steals. Just the whole package the defense hes playing, what hes doing on the bases, hes gone left-on-left, base hits the other way, Orioles manager Brandon Hyde said. Hes so down to earth, too. Hes so modest, but hes also super confident. I dont think this is surprising him. I think he believes this is how he should be playing. Gunnar Henderson (2) steals second base as New York Yankees shortstop Anthony Volpe (11) cant hold the ball in the sixth inning when the New York Yankees played the Baltimore Orioles Thursday, May 25, 2023. Robert Sabo for NY Post The same could be said for Volpe, who entered Tuesday batting .272 with a .766 OPS and seven steals. The reigning AL Gold Glove winner has cooled off some from his red-hot start to the season, but his off-season improvements to his swing getting it back to where it was during his rise through the minor leagues has made him a different hitter in Year 2. Mitch Williams Jersey