TAMPA — Anthony Volpe will not be in San Francisco on Wednesday when the Yankees open the 2026 season against the Giants. He will be in Tampa, watching on TV, wishing he was on the field. His left shoulder labrum is healed. His arm feels strong. He has been running, fielding and throwing since the start of spring training. But the Yankees are not rushing him back.
Volpe’s return is expected by late April. When it happens, the Yankees plan to hand him back the starting shortstop job. That part sounds straightforward. The part that is not: two threats are quietly building that could change the picture entirely.
One is already in the Yankees lineup. The other is climbing through the Yankees farm system at a pace nobody expected.
Volpe’s rehab is on track but he is hiding his impatience
October surgery repaired the torn labrum in Volpe’s left shoulder. The injury dated back to a diving play in May when he heard and felt a pop. He played through it all season with the help of cortisone shots but was never the same.
His fielding percentage dropped to .963, worst among AL shortstops. His Outs Above Average fell to minus-6, ranking 31st out of 37 qualifying shortstops. His batting average fell from .243 in 2024 to .212 last season, with 19 home runs, 72 RBIs and a league-high 19 errors.
Volpe has refused to use the shoulder as an excuse.
“It doesn’t do me any good, so I’m just on to the next and I’m excited to just really put it all behind me,” Volpe said. “I feel great and amazing now. I can’t wait to get back on the field and just play, so I’m not even thinking about last season.”
The next step in his rehab is live batting practice, scheduled for around next week. From there, Volpe will progress to minor league rehab games. The Yankees want at least three weeks of game action before activating him.
Volpe admitted he has been less patient than his public comments suggest.
“That’s what I say to you!” he said with a grin when asked about his patience, making it clear he has pushed to advance through rehab steps faster than the trainers have allowed.
Caballero has a chance to make the Yankees think twice
Jose Caballero will start at shortstop on Opening Day and handle the position until Volpe is activated. Acquired from the Rays at last year’s trade deadline, Caballero showed late in the season that he can play the position. He carries a .971 fielding percentage in 152 career games at shortstop.
But his real value is his legs. Caballero led the majors in stolen bases in 2024 and won the American League stolen base crown again last year. Starting 212 of the Yankees’ 324 games over the last two seasons, he brings a dimension to the top of the lineup that few players in baseball can match.
“Cabby’s a really good player,” Boone said. “He does a lot of things that help you win games. I feel really confident with him defensively at shortstop being able to hold it down, but also with a lot of the intangible different things he brings to the table offensively and on the base paths, I feel like we’re going to be in great hands.”
If Caballero plays well enough over the first month, the Yankees could face a difficult conversation about whether moving him back to a super-utility role is the best use of his skills. That is the first front of the threat to Volpe’s long-term hold on the Yankees shortstop position.
Lombard Jr. is the Yankees’ No. 1 prospect and he plays shortstop
The second threat is George Lombard Jr., the Yankees’ current top-ranked prospect. He plays shortstop. If Lombard continues to develop at the rate the organization expects, the conversation about who plays short in the Bronx could shift as early as 2027.
That does not mean Volpe would be out. The Yankees could move him to second base if Lombard is ready. But that scenario depends on what happens with Jazz Chisholm Jr., the Yankees’ All-Star second baseman who will be a free agent after this season and is expected to seek a major contract.
An inevitable lockout looming on Dec. 1 could also affect the Yankees’ 2027 plans. A long work stoppage might depress the market and lead Chisholm to accept a shorter deal, potentially even a one-year return to the Yankees. The variables are stacking up, and Volpe’s future role sits at the center of all of them.
The Yankees still believe in Volpe’s ceiling
“Look, he’s capable of a lot,” Boone said. “It’s as simple as that. He’s an outstanding defender, regardless of sometimes the talk around that. It was a rough month for him last year defensively.”
Boone pointed to a six-week stretch from June 14 to July 30 when Volpe made 10 errors in 40 games. In his other 113 games, he committed nine. The shoulder injury almost certainly played a role in that stretch.
“He’s shown the flashes,” Boone said of Volpe’s bat. “The biggest thing for him is that next layer of consistency to hopefully take him to the next level of player.”
“I think the last month, and even more specifically, the last couple of weeks, have been really encouraging where Volpe’s kind of turned that next corner of the rehab process,” Boone said. “I think if you ask him now, the last couple weeks, he feels like he’s a healthy guy now.”
Opposing scouts believe Volpe could become a much better Yankees hitter if he focuses less on exit velocity and launch angle and more on lining singles to all fields and working walks. The Yankees think 2026 can be different. Whether it is different enough to hold off the threats from Caballero and Lombard will determine whether Volpe remains the long-term Yankees shortstop or shifts to a new role entirely.
What do you think about Volpe’s Yankees future?
