Yankees activate shortstop Jose Caballero off IL, Anthony Volpe remains on 26-man roster
Yankees shortstops Jose Caballero, left, and Anthony Volpe. Credit: Kathleen Malone-Van Dyke; AP/Eduardo Munoz Alvarez
Jose Caballero’s return to the Yankees’ lineup comes with a twist to their shortstop equation.
On days when Anthony Volpe is not in the starting lineup — such as Friday night, when Caballero played shortstop and batted seventh — he will work out at second base, Aaron Boone said before the series opener against the Rays at Yankee Stadium.
Caballero (fractured right middle finger) spent the minimum 10 days on the injured list. Volpe, recalled from Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre when Caballero got injured, made eight starts at shortstop in his absence.
When asked who his everyday starting shortstop is, Boone said: “We’ll see.”
He added, “I've talked to both guys. Both guys are going to play. [Caballero’s] versatility comes into play now again with Anthony here, so we'll just see — and then these things have a way of working themselves out. It's a good situation to be in because we have two players that we feel like can play vital roles in us winning games.
“It’s not going to be — as I've told them each — it's not going to be the perfect scenario every single day. You may like or not like a decision on a given day, but at the end of the day, we're all working for the same thing: We want to win big, and we want to win big for the Yankees.”
Caballero entered Friday with a .259/.320/.400 slash line, four homers, 13 RBIs and 13 stolen bases in 41 games. Volpe was batting .217 (5-for-23) and had seven walks since making his season debut on May 13.
Caballero went 2-for-4, but his error set the stage for a four-run eighth in the Rays’ 4-2 win.
Boone said he has been “encouraged” by Volpe’s performance and is “not too worried” about him at second base. He “probably wouldn’t” play Volpe at third base.
Volpe most recently played second base in 2023 spring training when he was competing with Oswald Peraza for the starting shortstop job.
Volpe said before Friday’s game that he hasn’t worked at second base during warmups but thinks it will come back naturally.
“We got a game tonight,” he said. “If I get in there, I’ll be ready to go.”
Ben Dickson is Newsday Sports' general assignment reporter. He joined Newsday’s high school sports staff in 2023 after graduating from Maryland, where he covered several of the Terrapins' teams.
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