Yankees juggle Caballero and Volpe playing time

Yankees juggle – Activated from the 10-day injured list, José Caballero started at shortstop as the Yankees opened a three-game set with the division-leading Rays. Meanwhile, Anthony Volpe is being worked into second base as Aaron Boone tries to balance two earned roles withou

New York—On Friday, Aaron Boone didn’t just pull José Caballero aside. He sat Anthony Volpe down too, separate conversations with the same message: both have earned playing time. The problem for the Yankees is simple to say and hard to solve—how to fit it into a lineup that only has so many starting spots.

Caballero was activated from the 10-day injured list on Friday and immediately slotted into the role Boone needed most. He started at shortstop as the Yankees began a three-game series with the division-leading Rays.

Volpe, out of the lineup, won’t be left idle. Boone said the Yankees will begin having him “mixing in” workouts at second base when he’s not playing. The goal is to keep his development moving while the shortstop picture is still being negotiated night to night.

Boone acknowledged the trade-offs that come with trying to be fair to both players and still chase wins. “As I’ve told them each, it’s not going to be the perfect situation every day,” he said. “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.”.

“We’ll see,” Boone added later, speaking as much to the locker room as to the question itself. “There will be some days where it makes sense, and is fair or not fair. But we’re in this together.”

Caballero will be the immediate beneficiary of that approach. Asked which player will see the majority of starts at shortstop, Boone replied: “We’ll see. Cabby’s in there today. I’ll make the decision every night.”

After that first test as a full go again, Caballero tried to make the case with his bat and his effort. “I’m here to help the team as much as I can,” he said. “Whatever needs are out there to be covered, I’m willing to do it. Just trying to be out there and help the team win.”

In his first game back, Caballero went 2-for-4, but the night had a sharp sting in the eighth inning. He committed a costly error in the Yankees’ 4-2 loss.

Boone called the situation difficult—but also looked at the bigger picture for the decision that led to Caballero’s return to the lineup. “It was a really tough call. ” he said. pointing to what he felt the Yankees were getting out of another player’s time during the stretch. “I feel like it was a good experience for Spencer, even though he didn’t get a ton of results. I feel like he held his own pretty well. and even the last two days. I felt like he was having some good at-bats.”.

The tension in this week’s planning isn’t about whether either player can contribute. It’s about the fact that the Yankees now believe both should.

Back in April. general manager Brian Cashman said it had “always been the plan” for Volpe to return as the starting shortstop once healthy following left shoulder surgery performed in October. So the organization’s intent was clear—until Caballero’s performance changed what “plan” looks like on the ground.

Entering Friday, Caballero had been producing at the plate with a line of .259/.320/.400, along with seven doubles, four homers, 13 RBIs and 13 stolen bases.

And then there’s the field. Boone didn’t have to sell the value of Caballero’s defense—numbers did that. Caballero’s play at shortstop has been described as “stellar. ” with seven defensive runs saved at shortstop. tied with the Rays’ Taylor Walls for second-most in the Majors entering Friday. The Royals’ Bobby Witt Jr. is first with eight.

So when Volpe spoke during batting practice on Friday, his tone sounded ready, but also aware that readiness doesn’t automatically translate into a starting job. “I’m ready to go,” he said. “I don’t write the lineup. So I’m ready to go put my work in.”

Boone’s challenge is intensified by one detail: at the Major League level. Volpe has yet to play a position other than shortstop. Boone said Volpe played two games at second base in the Minors back in 2021. and Boone recalled seeing him at second base in the spring of 2023. Even so, Boone said he won’t have Volpe work out at third base.

“He still may end up being all at shortstop,” Boone said. On the days Volpe is at shortstop, Boone said he may move Cabby around. He also emphasized that the Yankees want Caballero to get a look at the other side of the field too. “But I want him to at least get some work over there and see that side of the field.”.

Caballero, unlike Volpe, has already proven he can shift. Last year alone with the Rays and Yankees, Caballero made appearances at shortstop, second base, third base, left field, center field and right field.

Still, Boone knows the team can’t reshuffle everything every day without affecting rhythm. He pointed toward the upcoming series against the Royals in Kansas City as one place where the Yankees could shuffle the lineup—mentioning a potential day off for Aaron Judge and a DH day for Cody Bellinger.

“There’s different iterations to get guys on the field,” Boone said.

But even with all the logistics laid out, Boone leaned on an old belief from his dynasty-era memories, tied to Joe Torre: “These things have a way of working themselves out.”

Boone closed by framing the moment the way the Yankees will need to live with it until the season decides who fits where. “It’s a good situation to be in,” he said. “Because we have two players that we feel like can play vital roles in us winning games.”

Yankees Aaron Boone José Caballero Anthony Volpe playing time shortstop second base injured list Rays Royals Spencer