Outside of Ben Rice at first base, the New York Yankees haven’t gotten much production from their infield so far this season. José Caballero did just hit a walk-off, two-run single on Wednesday night, but he’s still slashing just .186/.238/.305 with 17 strikeouts to a mere three walks. This isn’t good for New York’s interim shortstop, especially if he wants any shot of keeping or reclaiming the starting job once Anthony Volpe returns to the lineup.
JOSÉ CABALLERO WALKS IT OFF FOR THE @YANKEES! pic.twitter.com/h1mU7gbZFo
— MLB (@MLB) April 16, 2026
Volpe, who is currently rehabbing with Double-A Somerset, will miss at least another week or two as he recovers from surgery on his labrum. In his first rehab game, Volpe had two at-bats, striking out in both of them. Still, it doesn’t matter how well or how terribly he plays: even if Caballero were the Yankees’ best hitter right now (which wouldn’t be too difficult to do), Volpe is practically a shoo-in to retake the role of New York’s starting shortstop.
Lesser of Two Evils
Having Volpe or Caballero as the starter at short isn’t exactly ideal. Volpe hasn’t shown any signs of improvement since his rookie year in 2023, and Caballero has regressed significantly from the dynamic hitter and stolen-base threat that he was for New York down the stretch last season. Regardless, the Yankees don’t have any other options right now at shortstop.
It doesn’t matter how much Volpe struggles; New York’s general manager, Brian Cashman, gives Volpe every opportunity and every excuse he can manage. Even when Volpe went through a 25-game stretch last July with an on-base percentage of .196 (yes, an OBP under the Mendoza line), he never lost the starting job at short. It wasn’t until he missed five games in September that Caballero got a shot at the role. Sure, playing through a partially torn labrum is not ideal for a young shortstop who specializes in defense, but there comes a point at which the Yankees have to be realistic about what his future with the team might look like.
Inconsistent Decisions
It is even more bewildering that Volpe is still regarded as the de facto starting shortstop when you consider some of the recent decisions that the team has made in terms of day-to-day lineup decisions. Rice, who is the Yankees’ hottest hitter thus far, was on the bench two nights in a row in favor of veteran Paul Goldschmidt, who himself is just 3-16 on the year. Manager Aaron Boone also sat Jazz Chisholm Jr. and Cody Bellinger, two of New York’s most dynamic players, on the same night, which resulted in Tuesday’s 7-1 loss to the Los Angeles Angels. These are just a few recent examples, but if the Yankees were really trying to win, then they wouldn’t have Volpe as the best option to start at shortstop.
To be clear, it would be a delight to see Volpe finally make some progress on the offensive side of the ball. But, based on his track record, it just doesn’t seem likely. Perhaps Caballero can string together a solid stretch while he’s still starting every day, but even then, it won’t matter since the Yankees keep fooling themselves into thinking that they have their franchise shortstop.
Main Photo Credit: Brad Penner-Imagn Images
