Anthony Volpe’s potential return may provide more advantages than you think

No matter how well José Caballero played in this first month of the season, he was running on borrowed time. The Yankees always intended for Anthony Volpe to slide back into the starting shortstop role when he recovered from a torn labrum that affected his play for much of the 2025 season, and they made that clear when they didn’t make a single infield addition in the offseason. Right?

This is what everyone in Yankeeland assumed was going to happen, regardless of Caballero’s performance. The team had been vocal about their belief in Volpe as a key piece of the team’s future, consistently defending his performance through last season and into his offseason surgery. When he began a rehab assignment, it looked like his return was inevitable.

But the young shortstop reached the end of his 20-day rehab window yesterday, and the Yankees elected to option him to Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre. The fact he entered the year with all three of his minor league options remaining makes it so that the team isn’t absorbing any risk if this is intended to just get him a week or two more of game action before returning, but there’s a sense that some of the trust has waned in the 25-year-old, and Caballero’s performance hasn’t helped Volpe’s case at all. A month into the season, Caballero has performed admirably in his time as the team’s shortstop, contributing some clutch moments offensively with steady defense and aggressive baserunning.

Entering play on Monday, he’s slashing . 259/. 306/.