Yankees Slugger Has a Shot to Salvage Ugly Start

It's tough to get off to a worse start for this New York Yankees slugger, but he has a chance to make up for things.

Apr 9, 2026; Bronx, New York, USA; New York Yankees shortstop Jose Caballero (72) reacts after flying out against the Athletics during the fifth inning at Yankee Stadium. Mandatory Credit: John Jones-Imagn Images | John Jones-Imagn Images

Coming into the New York Yankees second game against the Tampa Bay Rays, Jose Caballero had a 1 wRC+. While it is a small sample, it's still the only one anybody has to work with.

It's tough to play as badly as a guy who has been statistically worse than 99% of the league. Especially since there were high hopes for Caballero after he finished his 2025 so strongly. The conversation around him all winter is that he could be the antidote to Anthony Volpe — at least for this season — since the former top prospect has yet to even have a season where he's a league-average bat.

Caballero looked like he was headed for another ugly day at the plate against his old team. Caballero struck out in the first. He struck out again in the second. Then, in the fourth, he flew out to Cedric Mullins on a feeble 78.5 MPH fly ball, which traveled all of 293 feet.

Making Up for Lost Time

It wasn't until the eighth inning that Caballero's bat finally came to life. After a Giancarlo Stanton walk and Jazz Chisholm Jr. doubled down the line, Caballero came to the plate with a runner on second and third.

Reliever Bryan Baker hung a slider down the heart of the plate, and Caballero ripped a single. It was scorched off his bat at 104.8 MPH.

CABBY COMES THROUGH! Yankees lead pic.twitter.com/d0KPmPgHVW

— Talkin' Yanks (@TalkinYanks) April 12, 2026

The Rays quickly tied it, squandering Caballero's big moment. Of course, there was room for more heroics in the tenth inning, and Caballero came through again. After a Chisholm lightly popped out to Taylor Walls, and Austin Wells grounded out to Jonathan Aranda, Caballero, for the second straight time, came up to the plate with runners on.

He, again, scorched another liner. This one came off his bat at 105 MPH. Randal Grichuk ended up scoring.

CABBY DOES IT AGAIN pic.twitter.com/0lSdNbC8EP

— Talkin' Yanks (@TalkinYanks) April 12, 2026

Finishing Strong

The Yankees lost the game, but Caballero's night was one of the few bright spots of another otherwise listless loss.

"We know what we're capable of," Caballero said, according to MLB.com's Bryan Hoch. "We know the kind of players that we have. We know we're way better than this. We just need to continue working and get better, and look forward to [Sunday's] game."

The shortstop came into the night with a 1 wRC+. He raised it to 20 after the two hits.

A 20 wRC+ is still dreadful, but it's something of an upgrade when a slugger has performed worse than a vast majority of the league, and he's an everyday player. It's the silver lining nobody wants to hear after Chisholm's weird postgame, but it's a silver lining nonetheless.

Caballero doesn't have much time to show his new team that he can contribute at a high level. At some point, Anthony Volpe will be back.

Even still, before the disappointing former top prospect returns to take back his old job, Caballero should do whatever he can to make this a conversation. He may not crack a 100 wRC+ before then, and the clock is ticking on his run as a starter, but he still has some time to salvage what has been a tough start to his year.

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