series-opening loss to the Dodgers<\/a>, Caballero went 0-for-4 but still contributed a pair of head-turning plays. <\/p>\nHe robbed a hit from Kyle Tucker by ranging up the middle, gloving the ball with a lunging stab and finishing the play with a spin and throw. <\/p>\n
Jos\u00e9 Caballero looks to make a play during the Yankees\u2019 July 9 win over the Rays. Imagn Images<\/p>\n
Later, he made a nice basket catch in shallow center field with his back to home plate to take away a bloop single from Dalton Rushing.<\/p>\n
His defense at shortstop has been solid, and his arm is better than Volpe\u2019s. <\/p>\n<\/p>\n
Neither has hit enough to firmly seize the job, but Caballero (.688 OPS) has been the slightly better option than Volpe (.668). <\/p>\n
That\u2019s particularly true of late, with Volpe slashing .222\/.276\/.222 in his past 10 games \u2014 perhaps a reflection of a hitter\u2019s numbers suffering amid sporadic playing time.<\/p>\n
\u201cI think both guys have come in with a focus and are ready to play and all hands on deck,\u201d Boone said after Saturday\u2019s game was rained out. \u201cIn both cases, I feel like [they] have a very team-first attitude, and that\u2019s the way we need it.\u201d<\/p>\n
There are no known plans for Volpe to see time at another position. <\/p>\n
George Lombard Jr. is pictured during an April 17 game for Double-A Somerset. Charles Wenzelberg<\/p>\n
Boone cited Caballero\u2019s experience as a utilityman in dictating him switching positions when a need in the outfield or at second or third base arises, leaving Volpe to play shortstop. <\/p>\n
Those instances, though, largely have dried up since Trent Grisham and Ryan McMahon returned from injury, giving the Yankees more stability and less need of a utility player. <\/p>\n
Thus, Caballero\u2019s time elsewhere and Volpe\u2019s time on the field have dipped.<\/p>\n
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Such a development is significant considering the Yankees watched Volpe win the everyday shortstop job in spring training 2023 and have rarely challenged him since. <\/p>\n
The Derek Jeter-loving New Jerseyan played in 472 of 486 games from 2023-25, a constant presence with a bat that did not develop as hoped.<\/p>\n
It is possible that, at some point this season, Lombard becomes the new hope at shortstop.<\/p>\n
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The 21-year-old, who had begun to conquer Triple-A competition before suffering a pair of finger sprains in mid-June, returned to action Friday and went 2-for-3 with a home run and a walk for Scranton\/Wilkes-Barre. <\/p>\n
He also had launched a homer in each of his rehab games in the Florida Complex League, so the top prospect may be announcing that his bat is ready.<\/p>\n
Boone said \u201cit\u2019s possible\u201d that Lombard can become a factor this season and acknowledged that \u201cwe\u2019re having those conversations internally\u201d regarding how much the club will have to see from Lombard before a promotion \u2014 which would arrive in the midst of a playoff chase for a team with World Series hopes.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s no secret how highly we think of George,\u201d Boone said of Lombard, who could be used as a trade piece for a difference-maker, though such a blockbuster would be a surprise. \u201cHe\u2019s just getting back now from a fairly short IL stint. Had a good game [Friday] night, obviously, and so he\u2019s certainly more and more in his development pushing himself into the conversation.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Hitters at the bottom of the roster typically take at-bats in pregame sim games, essentially serving as pawns…\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":944510,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_share_on_mastodon":"0"},"categories":[5122],"tags":[5229,5243,61866,1266,405,403,2228,5226,5225,5228,5227,62,67,586,132,5230,68,2969],"class_list":["post-944509","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-new-york","tag-america","tag-anthony-volpe","tag-jose-caballero","tag-mlb","tag-new-york","tag-new-york-city","tag-new-york-yankees","tag-newyork","tag-newyorkcity","tag-ny","tag-nyc","tag-sports","tag-united-states","tag-united-states-of-america","tag-unitedstates","tag-unitedstatesofamerica","tag-us","tag-usa"],"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/944509","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=944509"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/944509\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/944510"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=944509"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=944509"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=944509"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}