Anthony

Volpe

Volpe had sat the last two games with Jose Caballero playing shortstop, but Caballero will move to second base on Wednesday and Jazz Chisholm Jr. will get a day off. Earlier this season, Volpe became the first player in MLB history with over 1,800 plate appearances and an on-base percentage under .285. His defense at shortstop has improved this year, but he’s not giving the Yankees much else.

This will make back-to-back games that Volpe will sit with Jose Caballero playing shortstop. The 25-year-old has gotten on base at a respectable .340 clip, but he’s hit just one homer in 2026 and his .668 OPS on the year leaves much to be desired — and is unfortunately right in line with his career .662 number. Volpe has flashed the potential to be an excellent fantasy contributor, but it’s just too hard to trust him to be in lineups at this stage of his career.

The Yankees said that Judge “is expected to return at some point this season.” Still, he’s pretty clearly done through the All-Star break at least and quite possible until August. This probably means more José Caballero in right field and Anthony Volpe at shortstop for now. Once Jasson Domínguez comes off the injured list, he could get a chance to play regularly in the outfield. It’s a significant loss for fantasy managers but it sounds like there’s a strong possibility Judge is able to return at some point in the second half.

For the third straight game, Aaron Judge (ribs) is not in the Yankees lineup. However, as of now, he is also not on the injured list. The team has sent him for additional meetings with a specialist since the bone bruise on his ribcage is in such a unique spot. The Yankees will face Boston on Friday, so no off days are coming, which means the team will likely need to decide on whether or not to put Judge on the injured list before the weekend series starts. For Thursday, Jose Caballero will play shortstop with Anthony Volpe on the bench, and Max Schuemann will play right field and bat ninth.

The assumption based on comments from Yankees manager Aaron Boone was that Caballero would remain the club’s starting shortstop upon returning from the injured list. Simply put, that hasn’t happened. Anthony Volpe is making his third straight start at the position with Caballero heading to the outfield. It seems like it’ll be more of a timeshare at the position with Caballero bouncing around on occasion if Volpe continues to produce.

Volpe got a second straight start at shortstop after sitting in José Caballero’s first two games back from the IL and has his best game of the season to date. The homer off Bailey Falter was his first in his 10 starts. He’s hitting .281/.425/.469 with seven RBI in 40 plate appearances.

The plot thickens. Volpe continues to produce, which is going to make it challenging for the Yankees to take his name off the lineup card. It’s not necessarily a bad problem at the moment since it buys José Caballaro, who is on the bench in this one, a little bit of time off as he returns from a fractured finger. Volpe went 1-for-3 with a pair of RBI during Monday’s series opener and has shown some positive signs in nine games since making his season debut earlier this month.

Volpe’s hit was a clean liner to left off Lucas Erceg. He struck out twice and walked once in his three previous plate appearance. Volpe was making his first start in the three games since José Caballero rejoined the Yankees, as manager Aaron Boone picked him over Ryan McMahon and started Caballero at third today. That might well be the team’s best alignment right now, since McMahon has remained a bust offensively while also not playing quite as well as usual defensively this season. Volpe is hitting .231/.412/.308 with five RBI in 34 plate appearances since being recalled.

Caballero was also thrown out attempting to steal second base during his return from the injured list after missing just over one week with a fractured finger. The 29-year-old speedster will continue as New York’s primary shortstop with Anthony Volpe expected to see time at second base moving forward.

The hits today were his first since his recall, but Volpe walked seven times in the three-game series against the Mets. One of today’s came with the bases loaded, knocking in one of his three runs. The Yankees have indicated that José Caballero will return from the IL as their starting shortstop, but Volpe will make it interesting if he keeps performing. Playing Caballero at third and benching Ryan McMahon might work out.