ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. — George Lombard Jr. is hitting .476 at Double-A. The Yankees know it. Their fans have been talking about it for two weeks. And it does not matter. Not yet. Not this year.
That became clear on Friday when general manager Brian Cashman spoke before the Yankees opened a series against the Tampa Bay Rays. One question about the shortstop position. One direct answer. One door closed.
Anthony Volpe is coming back. Volpe is the shortstop. The conversation about anyone else can wait.
Cashman leaves no room for debate
Volpe has been rehabbing in Tampa since the offseason, recovering from October surgery to repair a torn labrum in his left shoulder. He took nine live at-bats on Friday at the Yankees’ player development complex. He will take more over the weekend. He flies back to New York with the club on Sunday night and sees team physician Dr. Christopher Ahmad on Monday for final clearance.
If he gets the green light, a rehab assignment with Double-A Somerset could begin as early as Tuesday.
When asked directly whether Volpe would return as the starting shortstop, Cashman answered without hesitation.
“That’s always been the plan,” Cashman said. “But ultimately that’ll be the manager’s call.”
The qualification about it being Boone’s call is standard organizational language. The substance of the answer was not. Cashman had not been that definitive on the shortstop question since Volpe went on the injured list before Opening Day. Now he was.
Volpe is the plan. He was always the plan.
Volpe is chomping at the bit
Volpe himself confirmed the physical progress matches the organizational confidence. The 24-year-old spoke to reporters Friday with an energy that was visibly different from much of the previous two seasons.
“My bags are packed,” Volpe said of the Somerset assignment.
He described the past few months of watching from the sidelines as painful.
“For someone used to playing 155-160 games a year, it’s been brutal,” Volpe said. “But it feels good to feel good, at the same time.”
He was candid about how he processed watching the Yankees play without him.
“The worst-best time of day is 7 o’clock,” Volpe said. “You see the games going on, and I want to be up there helping the team. I’m chomping at the bit.”
On the question of his own performance in recent seasons, Volpe did not deflect. His three-year OPS totals in the big leagues read .666, .657 and .663. His 2025 season included 150 strikeouts, a career-high 19 errors, and a shoulder injury he never once used as an excuse publicly.
“It might sound cliche and everything, but no one’s more… You can’t be more [ticked] at how I’ve played than me,” Volpe said.
Cashman, for his part, has publicly acknowledged what most inside the organization believe. The shoulder that Volpe tore in early May last season, on a diving play against the Rays, likely affected him all year. Surgery revealed more damage than expected.
“I personally think now that yes, it was affecting him,” Cashman said after last season ended.
Now, Volpe says the shoulder feels as good as it ever has. The Yankees are prepared to find out.
Caballero’s slow start makes the decision easy
AP Photo/Ashley Landis
Jose Caballero was the one player who might have made this decision complicated. He did not.
The utilityman, acquired at the trade deadline last season, gave the Yankees a short burst of energy when he arrived. Some fans quickly pushed for him as a preferred option over Volpe. Coming into spring, he had a legitimate shot to at least apply pressure.
He has not done that. Through 12 games as the interim starting shortstop, Caballero is batting .125 with a .362 OPS and two errors. He went 0-for-3 in Friday’s 5-3 loss to the Rays.
Those numbers mean the decision Cashman was asked about on Friday is not a difficult one. Volpe is coming back to a job that is still clearly his. Caballero, barring a dramatic reversal, settles back into his utilityman role.
Lombard must wait his turn
And then there is George Lombard Jr. The 20-year-old shortstop prospect is the name Yankees fans have been circulating since the early returns from Double-A Hartford showed a .476 batting average, a .952 slugging percentage, four doubles, and two home runs in his first 21 at-bats.
The numbers are real. The noise around them is also real.
What is equally real is the organizational framework Cashman laid out on Friday. You build a player back from injury properly. You give him 55 at-bats in rehab. You graduate his defensive innings from three to five to seven to nine. Then you slot him in.
That process takes time. And while it plays out, Lombard stays in Double-A.
Lombard struggled for most of 2025 at the Double-A level before his current hot start. A two-week April sample, however encouraging, does not override that history or accelerate a timeline. The Yankees know that better than anyone.
Volpe was the top-rated Yankees shortstop prospect once too. He was 20 years old and drawing the same kind of organizational buzz that Lombard draws now. Volpe himself addressed the parallel on Friday.
“I got to go to work and we made some really good adjustments,” Volpe said. “I just can’t wait to get back there and just compete and help the team win. I’m good to go.”
Cashman’s answer on Friday settled the immediate question cleanly. Volpe is the shortstop. Caballero is the backup. Lombard is the future. And the door that some fans wanted opened stayed firmly shut.
