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As the New York Yankees continued to roll to start the season, owning the best record in the American League after an 11-3 win on Sunday over the Baltimore Orioles, they had a big decision to make by the end of the day.
What should be done with shortstop Anthony Volpe, a polarizing figure among the fan base whose rehab assignment ended?
While Volpe was rehabbing from left shoulder surgery, Jose Caballero, who was acquired by the Yankees last season, has been doing more than just playing a serviceable shortstop. He’s been coming up in clutch positions as well as being a smooth glove at one of the most important positions on the diamond.
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As a result, the Yankees made the decision to have Volpe not re-join the team, but rather option the 25-year-old to the Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre RailRiders.
“Caballero is playing the heck out of the position and playing really well,” Yankees manager Aaron Boone said prior to the Yankees’ win on Sunday, per ESPN. “That complicates it.”
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Caballero has been the Yankees’ primary shortstop across 34 games this season and has done well with the regular at-bats, which usually come toward the bottom of the lineup. He is slashing .259/.306/.405 with a .711 OPS, four homers and 12 RBIs thus far.
Meanwhile, Volpe went 11-for-44 (.250) during his 13 rehab games in the minor leagues, which mostly came with the Double-A Somerset Patriots.
Volpe ended up getting shoulder surgery on Oct. 14, which came after the Yankees were eliminated from the MLB postseason by the Toronto Blue Jays, the team that won the American League pennant.
But the injury was one that bothered Volpe throughout the season. He received a cortisone shot in the shoulder during the All-Star break, and then once more on Sept. 10 after an aggravation of the injury.
Volpe went on to hit .212/.272/.391 with a .663 OPS across 153 games for New York, belting 19 homers and notching a career-high 72 RBIs. However, fans had problems with Volpe’s lack of consistency at shortstop, tallying 19 errors, which was third-most among big league players at the position.
Volpe was the Yankees’ first-round pick of the 2019 MLB Amateur Draft, and after finding fast success in the minor leagues, he debuted in 2023 as the team’s starting shortstop out of spring training.
After hitting 21 home runs, despite hitting just .209 with a .283 on-base percentage, the Yankees liked what they saw from their 22-year-old shortstop who was also named a Gold Glover that season.
This isn’t to say Volpe is going to spend the 2026 season outright in the minors, but the Yankees are not going to be switching things up as they remain hot.
In the meantime, Volpe will use his Triple-A at-bats and reps at shortstop to get right for when the Yankees eventually get him back in the bigs.
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