Yankees Manager Shows Confidence In New Shortstop

It's a tale as old as time. Anthony Volpe finds his way up at the plate with multiple runners on and less than two outs. It happened against the Toronto Blue Jays and Houston Astros last week. It also occurred in the blowout loss to the Detroit Tigers, where the New York Yankees squandered an early lead and suffered a devastating loss. Volpe didn't strike out this time; instead, his failed bunt attempt with a runner on first and second ended up in Colt Keith's glove. Boos rained down on Volpe, which, at this point, has become a norm at home.

Aaron Boone was asked about his shortstop after the loss. He spoke on the potential of Jose Caballero filling in for Gary Phillips of the Daily News:

"Look, Anthony, I view as our shortstop," Boone said. "But Caballero is a really good player. I'm aware of that, and feel a lot of confidence anytime I put him in there. Obviously, he's gotten some more opportunities here of late where I have sat Anthony, and we're at a time of the year where we're obviously playing for a lot right now. So I look it as all hands on deck every day, and try and do what's best for the team every day."

New York Yankees shortstop — Aug 4, 2025; Arlington, Texas, USA; New York Yankees third baseman Jose Caballero (72) in action during the game between the Texas Rangers and the New York Yankees at Globe Life Field. Mandatory Credit: Jerome Miron-Imagn Images | Jerome Miron-Imagn Images

It was a reminder that, while the Yankees are committed to Volpe, they would feel comfortable with Caballero at shortstop. There was never a viable alternative throughout Volpe's tenure in New York before now. The closest was Oswald Peraza, but he never panned out. Since joining the Angels, Peraza is hitting .241/.300/.315. His season highlight was having former teammate Kyle Higashioka hit a home run off him. To go to him at any point would have been a sure downgrade.

Whether they would go with Caballero remains to be seen. One reason to believe they would is that when a veteran outplays a younger player, they will ride the hot hand, regardless of future plans. We saw it in the case of Trent Grisham and Jasson Dominguez. The debate of who should be playing between the two went away when Grisham had an all-star caliber season and lined himself up for a respectable payday in free agency.

Caballero's track record as a hitter isn't much better than Volpe's, though, his 12.5% walk rate is league's better than Volpe's 7.4%. Outside of that, the one thing that sets them apart is defense. Caballero has three outs above average, whereas Volpe has -8 in 2025.

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