HOUSTON — Anthony Volpe is coming back. That much is settled. The Yankees’ starting shortstop has been rehabbing from October left shoulder surgery and is closing in on his return from Triple-A Scranton, possibly as early as next week.
What is less settled is what happens to Jose Caballero once Volpe walks back into the lineup.
The 29-year-old Panamanian has been filling the shortstop role since Opening Day. He has been fine with the glove. Caballero has been fine in the field. But in the last two days in Houston, the shortstop has looked like someone who does not want to give that job back quietly.
Caballero has homered in back-to-back games. He is attacking pitches and running hard on the bases. And whether or not the outcome of Saturday’s stolen base attempts was pretty, the aggression behind them says everything about his mindset right now.
Back-to-back homers in the Houston series
On Friday night, with the Yankees leading 12-2 in the seventh inning, Caballero punished a Colton Gordon cutter. He hit it 336 feet into the right-center seats at an exit velocity of 97.2 mph off a 41-degree launch angle. It was a well-struck ball that left no doubt.
On Saturday, he did it again. He sent a solo shot into the Crawford Boxes in left field off Houston starter Mike Burrows in the fifth inning to give the Yankees a 2-0 lead. It traveled 357 feet at an exit velocity of 100.4 mph. It was his second homer in as many games and his third of the season.
Back-to-back home runs for a player who entered 2026 with nine career homers in 224 major-league games is not a small thing. Caballero has always been defined by his speed. He led the entire major leagues in stolen bases in 2025. Power has not been his calling card. These two games suggest something has shifted.
The base-running aggression that Boone noticed
The homers were the highlight. But his baserunning was what got people talking.
Caballero twice tried to steal third base on Saturday with a left-handed batter at the plate. Both attempts failed. It is a play that managers generally discourage in that situation because a right-handed hitter would allow the catcher a cleaner throw to third. Caballero went anyway. Twice.
Manager Aaron Boone acknowledged after the game that getting those steals would have been special. He did not come across as angry. He pointed to what it could have been while framing it in the right context.
“We get that steal of third locked down, and it would have been Rickey-like tonight,” Boone said.
The Rickey Henderson reference was significant. It was a compliment wrapped in a gentle correction. Caballero is the kind of player whose aggression on the bases is a feature, not a flaw. The Yankees need him to channel it better. But they do not want it taken away.
Caballero also noted after the game that the Yankees become a different team when they draw walks and apply baserunning pressure. He said his team was especially dangerous when doing both. The 10 walks the Yankees drew Saturday backed that up.
The question Volpe’s return raises
Volpe played nine innings at shortstop for Scranton on Saturday. He is expected to do the same Sunday. The Yankees will evaluate him after those games to decide whether he is ready to be activated.
Manager Aaron Boone has not committed to a specific return date. The Rangers series beginning Monday in Arlington is one possibility. The Orioles series beginning the following Friday at Yankee Stadium is another. Either way, Volpe is close.
When he returns, Caballero slides into a utility role. He can play shortstop, second base, third base, and the outfield. The Yankees value that versatility. He is under contract for $2 million in 2026 and does not reach free agency until 2030. Caballero is not going anywhere.
But playing every day is different from coming off the bench. Caballero knows this. The back-to-back homers and the aggressive baserunning feel like a player making a case in the only language that matters: production.
What the numbers say about Caballero’s 2026
Entering Saturday, Caballero was hitting .238 with a .290 wOBA and an .110 ISO across 26 games as the Yankees’ primary shortstop. Those are not superstar numbers. But they are respectable for a player whose primary value has always been his defense and his legs.
The 44 stolen bases he posted with Tampa Bay in 2024 were the most in the AL. The MLB-best stolen base total Caballero put up in 2025 showed that was not a fluke. He came to the Yankees this season with the reputation of being the fastest baserunner on the roster.
What these two games in Houston added was something new. The third homer in 26 games. The willingness to take on pitching that is attacking Caballero. The look of a player who is not ready to be a backup.
Volpe will return to his shortstop job. That part is not in question. But Caballero’s response to that reality has been loud. He is not going quietly.
What do you think? Should the Yankees choose Volpe over Caballero as everyday shortstop?
