TAMPA — In some ways, this is the Anthony Volpe the Yankees always envisioned.

“I was around when he first got drafted,” said hitting coach Dillon Lawson, who was the minor league hitting coordinator when the Yankees selected Volpe in 2019. “He’s exactly what we all thought he would be.”

In some ways, there is no way the Yankees could have foreseen finding someone with the 30th-overall pick who, thus far at least, has lived up to expectations that are nearly impossible to reach.

From the moment the Delbarton High School graduate was drafted, Volpe began drawing comparisons to Derek Jeter, a name that popped up again Thursday.

Willie Randolph, while providing the caveat that the likeness was purely about intangibles such as focus and work ethic, mentioned Jeter and Don Mattingly when asked about Volpe.

“Some of those guys have ‘it.’ You can see ‘it’ sometimes,” Randolph said Thursday at Yankees camp, shortly before Volpe launched his first home run of the spring in Brandenton, Fla., against the Pirates. “I see a little bit of ‘it’ in [Volpe] as far as his total focus.

“You have a young player who’s focused on getting better and focused on how to learn how to play the game. That’s stuff that really excites me.”

Randolph is not alone.

Volpe might be a long shot for Opening Day shortstop, because Isiah Kiner-Falefa and even Oswald Peraza have more experience, but after getting his feet wet in Triple-A last season, Volpe has begun camp seemingly on a mission to force his way to the majors quickly.

Volpe opened his spring by saying he was eager to pick the brain of Randolph, who himself starred in The Bronx as a local, having grown up in Brooklyn.

The two met last season, when Randolph made sure to get to know Volpe while the young shortstop was with Double-A Somerset.

Randolph had heard the rumblings — “You hear about the skillset, what you’re about, that you’re a player” — but wanted to see for himself whether the now 21-year-old was the real deal.

Volpe answered the question quickly.

“From Day 1, he’s been right here with me. You can tell he wants to be the best,” said Randolph, who has been shadowing Volpe and the infielders as a guest instructor. “That’s when you know you got a chance as a coach, as someone who’s willing to give up my knowledge to him.

“When you have a player that’s really engaged, and he wants to work on not just the physical stuff but the IQ.

“Talent is great, but to play championship baseball, you got to put the cerebral with that.”

Randolph has listened to the kinds of questions Volpe asks, has watched the rhythm and internal body clock with which he plays the infield and the decisions he makes under pressure.

On Wednesday, with Nationals runners on second and third and one out, Volpe fielded a ground ball and alertly threw to third, behind the runner at second trying to advance.

He caught Washington’s Luis Garcia in a rundown, which jump-started a double play.

Randolph, a terrific second baseman himself, saw that “it” factor again.

“It’s a lot rarer than you think. That’s why when you see it, you notice it,” Randolph said. “A lot of kids walk around, they might be confident, a little cocky, but that’s all superficial stuff.

“I think that you can tell when a guy is really engaged in his work and what he’s doing.”

In each of the four Grapefruit League games Volpe has played, he has found a way to impress with his glove, bat or legs.

His nice day Thursday upped his line to 4-for-11 with that homer, a double, a walk and two steals.

Against the Blue Jays on Sunday, even his outs were loud, and he sprayed hits to left and right field.

“There’s certain things with his swing that make [using the whole field] more possible,” Lawson said. “To be able to use all fields, to be able to keep the ball on a line or in the air to all fields.

“For us, our goal is line shots to [the opposite field], to center. … Because his [bat] path is good, you’re just going to see ball flights like that regularly.”

The defense and swing stand out. In the early days of camp, the numbers are strong.

Randolph places more value on what his eyes tell him.

“He has the attributes,” Randolph said, “that make you think, ‘OK, you may be a little bit different than some of the young guys.’ ”