NEW YORK — A former Gold Glove winner is now being asked to learn a new position. The goal is to help him sit less awkwardly on the bench. That is where the Yankees find themselves with Anthony Volpe, and the situation is only getting messier.
Shortstop has turned into a crowded puzzle for the Yankees. Jose Caballero came off the injured list Friday and went right back to short. Volpe, the man he replaced, is suddenly a player without a clear home.
The Yankees did not demote Volpe when they shuffled the roster. Instead, the Yankees handed him a new assignment that says plenty about his standing. The 25-year-old will start taking ground balls at second base.
Keeping Volpe came at a cost the Yankees were willing to pay. To clear room for Caballero, they optioned rookie outfielder Spencer Jones to Triple-A late Thursday. They chose not to send down Volpe or utilityman Max Schuemann. Jones had gone 4-for-24 with 12 strikeouts since his May 8 debut.
Yankees ask Volpe to learn a new position
Manager Aaron Boone laid out the Yankees plan before the series opener with the Rays. On days when Volpe does not start at shortstop, he will work at second base. The goal, Boone said, is added flexibility.
Boone framed the move as a way to keep both infielders involved. He admitted the arrangement will not please everyone every night. He spoke to Caballero and Volpe separately about the new reality.
The Yankees manager made clear that nobody should expect a tidy setup.
“As I’ve told them each, it’s not going to be the perfect scenario every single day,” Boone 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.”
“He still may end up being all at shortstop,” he added. “On the days he’s playing shortstop, I may move Cabby around. But I want him to at least get some work over there and see that side of the field.”
The catch is that Volpe has only ever played shortstop in the majors. He has logged more than 4,000 big-league innings, all at one spot. His lone second-base reps came in the low minors back in 2021 and a brief spring trial in 2023. Except for 2023 spring camp, Volpe had never played at second base.
Volpe tried to sound game for whatever comes next. He said he does not write the lineup and is ready to put in the work. The message was cooperative, but it could not hide the obvious squeeze on his Yankees role.
Caballero forced his way into the job
The reason for the Yankees shuffle is simple. Caballero played too well to push aside. He earned the shortstop job while Volpe rehabbed from offseason labrum surgery.
Caballero entered the weekend hitting .259 with four home runs and 13 RBIs. He had also swiped 13 bases, a team high, and brought energy the lineup lacked. His .720 OPS landed a tick above league average.
The glove is where Caballero truly separated himself. He posted seven Defensive Runs Saved at shortstop before his injury. That total tied for second in the majors, trailing only Kansas City star Bobby Witt Jr.
Boone has not hidden his excitement about getting Caballero back for the Yankees. He praised the spark the utilityman brings across the whole game. The manager said Caballero earned the right to play short regularly.
Caballero kept his own message about the role short and selfless.
“I’m here to help the team as much as I can,” Caballero said. “Whatever needs are out there to be covered, I’m willing to do it.”
Why the second-base move may not help Volpe
Here is the core problem with the plan. The second-base experiment is unlikely to win Volpe much playing time. The Yankees already have the position well covered.
Jazz Chisholm Jr. remains the Yankees’ everyday second baseman. He has started 48 of the team’s 52 games there. Amed Rosario, a strong hitter against lefties, has handled the few other starts.
Chisholm has scuffled, hitting .239 with a .689 OPS. Even so, that line still tops what Volpe produced over his first three seasons. Benching Chisholm for Volpe would be a tough sell and could turn ugly.
The Yankees also will not use Volpe as a pure platoon bat. Rosario is the cleaner fit against southpaws, and the Yankees do not platoon Chisholm anyway. That leaves few obvious openings for Volpe at second.
Boone did point to a stretch of favorable matchups. The Yankees were set to face several lefties and reverse-split righties. The list included Tampa Bay’s Shane McClanahan and Kansas City’s Michael Wacha and Noah Cameron. Those games could open a few starts for right-handed bats. Even so, Caballero and Rosario stand ahead of Volpe in that mix.
Volpe’s own numbers do not force the issue. He is batting .217 since returning, with a .704 OPS in eight games. He has drawn seven walks, a positive sign, but he has yet to barrel a single ball.
His contact quality has been soft, with a 37.5% hard-hit rate. The on-base work is encouraging over a tiny sample. The bat still has to prove it can hold up after last year’s .212 average over 153 games.
That is the bind for Volpe with the Yankees. He is not being buried, but he is being asked to adapt or fade. Fewer reps at a new spot may dull the very tools that made him a Gold Glove shortstop in 2024.
Looming returns squeeze Volpe further
The Yankees roster math is about to get even tighter. Boone said Jasson Dominguez and Giancarlo Stanton are both close to returning. Their bats would help a slumping lineup but crowd out at-bats elsewhere.
For Volpe to hold his Yankees roster spot, the path is narrow. He likely needs a hot streak, and starts will be hard to find. A player who does not start cannot easily build any rhythm at the plate.
The future adds another layer of pressure. Chisholm can become a free agent after the season. Top Yankees prospect George Lombard Jr. is waiting at Triple-A and may be the best defensive shortstop in the system.
Cashman has called the 20-year-old Lombard ready to play big-league defense. Should Lombard arrive at short, Volpe’s long-term home with the Yankees grows even cloudier. Learning second base now could be the start of a permanent shift.
Boone leaned on an old Joe Torre line to wave off the worry. He said these things have a way of working themselves out. For Volpe, though, the so-called good problem looks a lot like a shrinking opportunity with the Yankees.
Anthony Volpe’s Yankees future just got a lot more complicated
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