The Yankees are active Anthony Volpe from the 10-day injured list and optioned the shortstop to Triple-A, according to a team announcement. Joel Sherman of the New York Post broke the news shortly before the Yankees’ official release.
After shoulder surgery last October, Volpe started this season on a 10-day IL to allow more time for a full recovery. He began a minor league rehab assignment in April that has so far lasted 13 games (nine in Double-A, four in Triple-A), and today marked the last day of the 20-day window allotted for rehab assignments. So the Yankees had to decide whether to open Volpe and add him to the big league roster, or option him to Triple-A.
This writing was seen on the wall yesterday when the manager of New York Aaron Boone he said Volpe will be kept in custody for the rest of his 20-day term. When Boone said that Volpe had entered “very nice place and had a good rehab,” the captain also noted that the shortstop “he played, what, two weeks and more games. Spring Training is much longer than that. And he gets a lot of live at-bats and he learns in the field leading up to that. He is very close to Spring training, but I don’t think it hurts for him to continue to play regularly..”
This renewal assignment marked Volpe’s first taste of minor league ball since 2022, as he has been playing at the Yankees’ shortstop since his MLB debut on Opening Day 2023. As a top-10 consensus prospect in baseball, Volpe’s debut came with a number of big league games that were expected to be (unexpected) seasons.
Volpe hit .222/.283/.379 with 52 homers over 1886 PA career appearances, translating to an 85 wRC+. He was at least a decent defender in his first two seasons and won the AL shortstop Gold Glove in 2023, but Volpe’s glovework also declined significantly last year, perhaps because he played most of the season with a torn left labrum.
New York has been discovered Jose Caballero since last summer’s deadline, and the staff quickly made an impression when he arrived in the Bronx, especially filling in at shortstop while Volpe spent a week recovering from a cortisone shot. With the knowledge that Volpe is likely to miss time early in the 2026 rehab campaign, the Yankees explored the shortstop market last winter but chose to stick with Caballero as a shortstop, and the results have been very solid.
Through 124 PA this season, Caballero is hitting .259/.306/.405 with four home runs, and 13 stolen bases in 17 attempts. Even his modest 99 wRC+ is still better than Volpe’s career numbers, and Caballero has put himself in the early Gold Glove conversation with his solid defensive play at shortstop.
The phrase “if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it” might be the easy answer after the Yankees’ decision on Volpe. New York is 23-11 and its .676 winning percentage is the second best in baseball, behind only the Braves. There’s no real pressing need for Volpe to be brought up now, and if Caballero starts to struggle or if injuries crop up elsewhere in the New York area, Volpe could easily be called up for his 2026 debut.
(In what may be a related matter, Ben Rice day after day with a left hand injury that forced him to leave today’s game. The X-rays weren’t good on Rice’s hand, and the fact that the Yankees are still selecting Volpe is probably a sign that Rice might miss a game or two at most.)
In the big picture, it’s fair to wonder if Volpe is still considered an important part of the Yankees’ future plans. He’s in his first year of eligibility and is under team control through 2028, yet Volpe now finds himself in a position to seemingly win back his old job, not to mention figure out how to deal with MLB hitters. New York has another top shortstop prospect George Lombard Jr. knocking on his big league door, for Lombard to replace Volpe if Caballero hasn’t already.
