TAMPA, Fla. — Ryan McMahon has played nearly 9,500 innings at third base during his professional career. He has logged more than 2,100 innings at second base and close to 1,850 at first. At shortstop, the total before this week was three innings. All of them came in 2020.
So when the Yankees asked their starting third baseman to take grounders at short during Tuesday’s 11-1 exhibition win over Panama at Steinbrenner Field, Ryan McMahon was willing. He was also honest about what he is and what he is not.
The 31-year-old went 2-for-3 with two RBIs and a run while playing five innings at the unfamiliar spot. He turned a double play, committed an error and showed enough to keep the conversation going. But he made sure nobody got carried away with the idea of him becoming an everyday shortstop for the Yankees.
Why the Yankees need a backup plan at short
The Yankees are navigating a complicated situation at shortstop this spring. Anthony Volpe, who has been the starter at the position since 2023, is still recovering from shoulder surgery. Jose Caballero is set to open the regular season as the primary shortstop while Volpe heals.
That leaves the Yankees short on backup options. Oswaldo Cabrera could handle the position, but he is also working his way back from an injury. Amed Rosario is another possibility. But manager Aaron Boone wanted to see what McMahon, a five-time Gold Glove nominee at third base, could do on the left side of the diamond.
McMahon is entering his 10th major league season. He spent more than five years in the minors before that. In all of that time, he had barely touched the shortstop position. The Yankees acquired him before last year’s trade deadline, and now they want to stretch his defensive versatility.
McMahon invokes Lindor to set expectations
McMahon did not run from the challenge. He also did not pretend he belongs in the same conversation as the top shortstops in the game. When asked about the experiment, he brought up a specific name to make his point clear.
“Do I think I’m going to be a Bobby Witt or Francisco Lindor at shortstop? No, I’m not dumb enough to think that,” McMahon said. “But do I think I could be serviceable if it came down to it? I think it’s just to have options, so they can kind of figure out what they want to do with the roster and things like that. I don’t think I’m going to be in there every single day.”
Lindor, the Mets’ star, represented the National League at shortstop in the All-Star Game last year. He has two Gold Glove Awards and four Silver Slugger Awards at the position. McMahon earned his own All-Star selection in 2024, but he knows the gap between playing elite defense at third and playing it at short.
“It feels, it looks so much different for me,” McMahon said of the position. “There’s a lot more space. I think I gained a little bit more respect for what these shortstops have to deal with on a daily basis. But it was fun getting out there. I botched one, but I feel like if I see that one a couple more times that would be no problem.”
Mixed results in the field Tuesday
McMahon’s afternoon at shortstop was a mixed bag. He turned an inning-ending double play in the first, showing off the arm strength that has made him one of the best defensive third basemen in the sport. But in the fourth inning, he fumbled a grounder toward the middle of the diamond for an error. He recovered to handle another chance cleanly in the fifth before being pulled from the game.
“It’s just getting reads off the bat,” McMahon said. “The angles are different. You get so used to seeing it from the spot you’ve been at. You just step into a different area and I think that’s something reps can definitely fix. It’s baseball. Just getting it to where it’s second nature. At third base I don’t think about it, I just do it.”
But Boone saw enough to keep the experiment going.
“It was good to get him out there,” Boone said. “The error kind of took a bad hop on him, although it’s one he’s probably gotta attack if you read it perfectly or you can give a little more ground, especially with his arm, and put yourself in a better position to handle that hop.”
More reps on the way for McMahon
Boone is not done testing McMahon at shortstop. The plan calls for the third baseman to work exclusively at short on Wednesday, then start there again Thursday when the Yankees host the Twins in a spring training game.
McMahon said he views himself as a complete infielder, not just a third baseman. He is willing to put in the work.
“I feel pretty comfortable out there,” he said. “I think of myself as a baseball player. I think if I just take some more reps I’ll be able to handle it. I think I’ll get better at it.”
The Yankees are not asking McMahon to replace Caballero or Volpe. They want a safety net. If Caballero needs a day off or if something goes wrong early in the season, having McMahon ready to slide over from third to short gives Boone more lineup options without burning a roster spot.
McMahon understands the assignment. He is not trying to become something he is not. He just wants to give the Yankees another card to play when they need it. And based on what Boone and the coaching staff have seen so far, there is reason to believe he can do exactly that.
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