José

Caballero

Caballero had been planning to play in the Dominican Winter League, but instead decided to “feel fresh” going into spring training and work on his swing at Driveline Baseball in Tampa. According to The Athletic’s Chris Kirschner, Caballero’s “goal is to improve his average bat speed to 71 mph this season, which would have been a shade under last year’s MLB average (71.7 mph).” In his first spring training action, the 29-year-old utility player hit a 405-foot home run. Caballero will get a chance to start at shortstop for the Yankees with Anthony Volpe (shoulder) out, so if he’s able to add some power to his elite speed, he could be a major steal where he’s going in fantasy drafts.

Caballero’s homer to left was projected at 402 feet, which is pretty good for a guy who hit a ball 390 feet only once last season. (He somehow yanked a 423-foot homer off Steven Matz in September.) Caballero should have shortstop mostly to himself in the Bronx for the first month of the season. If he excels, there might be a chance that he’ll fend off Anthony Volpe once Volpe is back from shoulder surgery.

Caballero qualified for arbitration as a Super Two player after falling just two days short of having three years of service time. The utilityman hit .236/.339/.347 with 49 steals in 370 plate appearances for the Rays and Yankees last season. He’s expected to open up as the Bombers’ starting shortstop with Anthony Volpe due to miss the first month after shoulder surgery.

Volpe can start hitting in four months, but it’ll be six before he’s allowed to dive on defense, which probably means he’ll spend most of April on the injured list. Boone, who maintained that he didn’t think playing through a labrum tear had much of an effect on Volpe’s performance, also didn’t promise that Volpe would get his starting job back after returning. José Caballero can be penciled in as the Yankees’ Opening Day shortstop for now, though the team will add another utility option.

Chisholm didn’t start Tuesday’s game with Garrett Crochet on the bump, but with right-hander Brayan Bello on the mound for Boston, the 27-year-old is hitting in the middle of the lineup for the must-win game. Ben Rice is also back in the lineup, as is Ryan McMahon with Paul Goldschmidt out and Jose Caballero also on the bench. The full lineup for the Yankees: CF Trent Grisham, RF Aaron Judge, LF Cody Bellinger, 1B Rice, DH Giancarlo Stanton, 2B Chisholm. C Austin Wells, SS Anthony Volpe and 3B McMahon.

Volpe makes his fourth consecutive start at shortstop with New York aiming to edge the Blue Jays and Red Sox for the AL East division crown. The 24-year-old has been abysmal from a defensive standpoint, but he offers a higher offensive ceiling than speedy utility specialist José Caballero heading into the postseason.

The Yankees will get their dynamic 27-year-old second baseman a breather on Friday night with tough left-hander Trevor Rogers toeing the slab for the Orioles. Jose Caballero will draw a start in his place and will bat ninth for the Bombers.

The Yankees entered the ninth inning trailing 2-1, but they drew even as Cody Bellinger worked a bases-loaded walk. Caballero then followed with a two-out, RBI single into center off of Steven Wilson that plated Aaron Judge with the game-winning run. The speedy 29-year-old had entered the game as a pinch-runner and certainly made the most of his lone plate appearance. For the season, he’s slashing .239/.340/.353 with five homers, 36 RBI and 48 stolen bases.

Volpe had Sunday off, but this will be four starts in the Yankees’ last five games for him. José Caballero is again out of the lineup; the Yankees haven’t started him anywhere other than shortstop since putting him at third base last Tuesday.

Caballero gets the nod over Anthony Volpe at shortstop in this one to face Twins righty Taj Bradley. It seems highly unlikely New York will bench Volpe entirely, but we’re anticipating Caballero to continue getting the majority of the opportunities at the spot over the final week-plus of the season. The 29-year-old speedster leads the entire majors with 47 thefts across 119 games this season split between the Rays and Yankees.