Ryan Garcia
It’s funny how the world works; the Yankees sent down Anthony Volpe and I lauded it as the right decision given the defense that Jose Caballero provided to start the season.
Fast-forward to today, and I think there’s a role for Volpe to have if he continues to play sharp defense at the shortstop position.
He’ll make some errors (all defenders do), but if the defensive quality there remains brilliant, then the cuts in playing time need to go to Ryan McMahon instead.
Jose Caballero brings the flexibility to play an excellent third base, and while it isn’t a perfect left side of an infield, it has the soft skills of defense and baserunning that can allow both to rattle in their opponent’s minds all game.
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Jose Caballero snuck up and stole Anthony Volpe’s job at shortstop by playing excellent defense at the position while providing a scrappy offensive profile that could create some chaos.
He is far from a perfect player, but the stability he could provide with his glove made him a better option than what the Yankees got from their 2019 first-round pick during the 2025 season.
Volpe was recalled from Triple-A Scranton due to an injury to Caballero, and in his first 10 games he’s provided a ton of value immediately that could lead to newfound playing time.
This isn’t because of Jose Caballero, who provides excellent defense at positions such as third base while being a pesky offensive player, but rather because of Ryan McMahon.
Since being acquired from the Colorado Rockies at last year’s trade deadline, McMahon has posted a 70 OPS+ with a 32.5% K% in his first 104 games with the Yankees.
His poor bat-to-ball abilities come without the usual benefit of reliable power, and I think it stems from bad barrel control with horrible swing decisions.
McMahon is in the 13th Percentile in SEAGER, a swing decision statistic that measures how often a hitter swings at pitches to hit versus how often they expand the zone and chase at bad pitches to hit.
The lack of a tangible skill is difficult to stomach in the bottom-half of the lineup, but Anthony Volpe so far has displayed abilities that are far more desirable for this team.
Volpe is in the 100th Percentile in SEAGER so far which is an indication that he isn’t expanding the zone much while attacking hittable pitches consistently.
It takes more time for swing decision data to stabilize, but if he can generally continue laying off of pitches out of zone, then he could keep working walks and being a pest at the bottom of the lineup.
I know bottom-of-the-order hitters are bound to have below-average OPS+ numbers, but having some skills that can facilitate the offense and keep pressure on the pitching staff can allow a team to limit the length of dry spells.
We’ve already seen this with Volpe’s inclusion in the lineup over Ryan McMahon, including in their Memorial Day comeback victory where he stayed on a two-strike slider to deliver the eventual game-winning hit.
Aaron Boone didn’t choose to roll with McMahon, a left-handed hitter, in that spot and it paid off, something I think he should continue doing moving forward.
You cannot keep stomaching the empty strikeouts without the benefit of consistent power, and you certainly can’t keep doing so when the defensive alignment might genuinely be better with Caballero at third and Volpe at shortstop.
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