José

Caballero

McMahon gets a shot at shortstop for the first time this season with speedster José Caballero drawing his first off day. The 31-year-old has been mired in an extended slump at the dish, hitting .087 (2-for-23) through 10 games.

Rice steps into the heart of New York’s loaded lineup behind Aaron Judge and Cody Bellinger following last year’s 26-homer breakthrough campaign. The 27-year-old slugger’s realistic 30-homer ceiling makes him an upper-echelon fantasy catcher heading into the regular season. Here’s the full lineup set to face Giants ace Logan Webb at Oracle Park in primetime: Trent Grisham (CF), Judge (RF), Bellinger (LF), Rice (1B), Giancarlo Stanton (DH), Jazz Chisholm Jr. (2B), José Caballero (SS), Ryan McMahon (3B) and Austin Wells (C).

Volpe is making his way back from surgery to repair a torn labrum in his shoulder. He began his hitting program about a month ago and has now progressed to facing velocity. From there, he will need to begin a rehab assignment in Triple-A, but it’s not out of the question for him to return to the Yankees at the end of April or early in May. That could move Jose Caballero to the bench.

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.