Ryan Garcia
The New York Yankees are getting Anthony Volpe back at some point during this week, with Francys Romero reporting that the return date is around Wednesday or Thursday.
Volpe, who has spent the last two weeks rehabbing from a labrum surgery over the offseason, has six hits in 22 at-bats since beginning his assignment in the Minor Leagues.
Jose Caballero has started getting hot as of late with a .377 AVG and three home runs over his last 55 plate appearances, but it has been made crystal clear that Volpe would get a shot to start when he returns.
Whether this becomes a shortstop battle or not remains to be seen, but with an apparent injury to Giancarlo Stanton that has yet to yield a decision on whether he needs an IL stint or not, Caballero will have playing time to hold onto.
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The Yankees Will Have Interesting Shortstop Battle With Anthony Volpe’s Return
Anthony Volpe was feeling confident after his first rehab game with the Somerset Patriots where he got to face Zack Wheeler, who was on a rehab assignment of his own.
The young shortstop noted that he’s aiming to work some of the bad habits in his swing out and has spent the offseason making adjustments to clean things up.
His swing is different in the rehab assignment when comparing to his 2025 swing, notably changing his hand positioning and keeping both hands on the bat through the swing.
Whether these changes stick are unclear, but the increased production from Jose Caballero over the last two weeks makes this an interesting situation to follow.
Jose Caballero is hitting .280 on the season with a .430 SLG%, hitting home runs in back-to-back games in Houston as the scrappy shortstop has begun to turn his season around.
The early parts of April were not kind to Caballero, who struggled to generate any damage contact and also had issues with just making contact.
A hot stretch certainly makes the shortstop conversation an interesting one, but Caballero’s versatility should allow him to remain in the lineup serving various roles especially against LHP.
He has a 111 wRC+ and .771 OPS against southpaws this season, owning a career .249/.347/.400 slashline in those situations.
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