NEW YORK — Anthony Volpe is healthy. He is ready. And the Yankees are not activating him.
That sentence would have seemed unthinkable in March. It is the reality heading into Saturday.
With Jose Caballero playing the best Yankees baseball of his career, the Yankees made a deliberate choice Friday. They left Volpe at Double-A Somerset. They did not start the Orioles series with their 2023 Gold Glove shortstop. Manager Aaron Boone acknowledged the reality.
Boone was asked before Friday’s 7-2 win over Baltimore why Volpe was not being activated immediately despite clearing his medical benchmarks. Boone chose his words carefully.
“I don’t think it hurts to have some more runway for him,” Boone said. “Caby’s obviously playing very well for us. So I just want it to be a situation where we’re giving Anthony every chance to come in and be successful, but also taking note of what’s going on with our club, as well.”
Caballero’s 15-game run is impossible to look past
Over his last 15 Yankees games, Caballero has been one of the hottest hitters in the AL. He is batting .368. He has 19 hits. He has three home runs, including Friday’s go-ahead second-inning shot off Cade Povich that left his bat at 108.5 mph. His OBP is .404, his SLG .566, his OPS is nearly .967.
His defense has been equally sharp. Boone has said publicly that Defensive Runs Saved is his preferred public defensive metric. Among all qualifying shortstops, Caballero leads that category. He proved it again Friday with a sliding stop 20 feet past second base to throw out Adley Rutschman.
Through 30 Yankees games, Caballero carries a 0.8 fWAR and a 100 wRC+. Both figures are equivalent to players like Oneil Cruz, Jacob Wilson and William Contreras at the same point in the season. His value is no longer a sample-size conversation. Caballero has earned the conversation.
Boone acknowledged the position Caballero has put the Yankees in. His language made it plain that the team sees the numbers.
“Jose has earned opportunities and been a key part of our club and a part of our success here to start out the season, so that’s part of it,” Boone said.
Volpe’s 20-day minor league rehab clock expires Sunday. By Monday, the Yankees must act. Three paths exist. Start him. Use him in a reduced role. Or option him to the minors.
The third option would be the first formal minor league assignment of Volpe’s career. The Yankees never optioned him in three seasons. Not during his .212 average in 2025. Not during his career-high 19 errors. Sending him down now would break three years of Yankees precedent.
There is a financial dimension too. If the Yankees option Volpe for 20-plus days, it delays his free agency by one year. That pushes it to after the 2029 World Series. It has not been addressed publicly. It is part of the Yankees calculation.
Boone was asked about the decision that awaits and gave a brief window into how the organization is framing it. His response closed the day without closing the door on any option.
“We’ll kind of reevaluate where we are after Sunday,” Boone said.
SWB
What Caballero brings and what Volpe must prove
The Yankees are weighing two legitimate players for one position, and the gap between them right now is real.
Caballero’s .252 xwOBA works against him in the deeper numbers. That metric suggests his current production level may not be fully sustainable. But the surface results, the contact quality, the defense and the stolen bases, paint a different picture. He leads the AL with 12 stolen bases. His on-field presence and energy have been a consistent positive in a Yankees clubhouse that has won 11 of 13.
Volpe is batting .278 in his rehab stint across 36 at-bats. His shoulder held up. He is not the 2025 version of himself, the player who struggled defensively and could not find consistent production at the plate. But he has not yet had the volume of at-bats in game situations to prove it.
Caballero was asked whether he felt he had secured everyday status with his performance. He did not take the bait. His answer reflected the same quiet intensity that has defined his entire Yankees tenure.
“I’m not the guy to make that decision,” Caballero said. “My goal is to help my team and help my team as much as I can to win and do my best every day.”
Boone had acknowledged the complication the Yankees confronted. The numbers have made it real. Now comes the call.
What do you think? Should the Yankees send Volpe to the Triple-A?
They could always move either one to 2nd base seeing Jazz isn’t producing. Also Volpe played through a injury that, IMO, the Yankee front office didn’t address at the time.=, but that’s how they operate. And lastly you don’t lose your position to a injury. I think Volpe will come back strong after realizing what could be lost in a blink of a eye.
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They could always move either one to 2nd base seeing Jazz isn’t producing. Also Volpe played through a injury that, IMO, the Yankee front office didn’t address at the time.=, but that’s how they operate. And lastly you don’t lose your position to a injury. I think Volpe will come back strong after realizing what could be lost in a blink of a eye.