Whether the Yankees activate Anthony Volpe from the injured list on Friday, or wait till Monday, may be the simple part.
Exactly what his role is and how long of a runway he gets to prove himself in it is the decision that was staring down the Yankees on Thursday’s off day before opening a four-game set against the Orioles on Friday in The Bronx.
Aaron Boone had said the Yankees would re-evaluate Volpe’s status on Thursday after he played back-to-back nine-inning games at shortstop for Double-A Somerset, giving him 10 total games (with 34 plate appearances) on his rehab assignment. All indications are that he is healthy and feeling strong, following October surgery to repair a torn labrum in his left shoulder, and he just needed to build his workload in what was essentially his spring training.
Volpe seemed to be trending towards a Friday return, though Boone would not yet commit to that on Wednesday, and given that his 20-day rehab clock runs through Sunday, it is possible he could get a few more days of rehab games in.
“We’ll see,” Boone said five times answering two questions about Volpe’s status, including whether he would play in a role like he has in the past.
Nearly three weeks ago, general manager Brian Cashman said Volpe reclaiming his starting shortstop job upon returning from the IL had “always been the plan.”
“But ultimately, that’ll be the manager’s call,” Cashman added, as he usually does on issues regarding lineups and playing time.
Of course, that was easier to say back then, on April 10, when José Caballero was off to a slow start, finishing the day batting .150 with a .384 OPS in 12 games along with two errors. In 18 games since then, Caballero was batting .338 with a .915 OPS. While his underlying offensive metrics suggest that may not be sustainable, his six Defensive Runs Saved were the most of any shortstop entering Thursday, his 12 steals were tied for the most in the American League (as were his four caught stealings) and his 1.2 bWAR was tied for sixth among all shortstops.
Boone recently described Caballero as a “winning player” who “does so many things to help you win a game,” but the manager has declined to publicly reveal a plan for what the playing time will look like at shortstop once Volpe returns — perhaps because he is sensitive to Caballero potentially losing some at-bats while he was playing a key role in their success.
“Cabby’s playing at a really high level,” Boone said earlier this week. “Obviously we think very highly of Anthony too. But those are answers for another day. Bottom line is José has learned a lot of opportunities and has been right in the middle of us winning a lot of games.”
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All of this may have been manager-speak from Boone, not wanting to make any proclamations until the Yankees were ready to activate Volpe — though even after, he likely won’t — because of the possibility that something could have changed the equation before then.
But when it boils down to it, the reality is that Caballero offers much more value in a utility/10th man role than Volpe does. He can still play shortstop on occasion, but also bounce around to left field, third base or second base against a lefty, or be a legitimate speed weapon off the bench.
All along, the expectation has been that Volpe will get some kind of runway to start at shortstop and prove that his rough season last year was due in part to playing through the shoulder injury. His defense prior to that had been mostly strong while his bat has been wildly inconsistent over three seasons in the big leagues.
“Volpe’s a big piece of what we’re doing here and has been the past couple years,” Aaron Judge said. “Hopefully we can get him back and he keeps swinging the bat like he is in his rehab starts [10-for-33], which has been great. The boys definitely miss him. … It’ll be good to see him back in pinstripes.”
But as he begins a crucial Year 4 — with a potential longer-term replacement, George Lombard Jr., just promoted to Triple-A — Volpe’s leash may be shorter than it has been in the past, especially because the Yankees now have a real option behind him in Caballero.
They have also been more aggressive in their roster moves early this season than in years past — calling up Elmer Rodríguez for Luis Gil and designating Randal Grichuk for assignment earlier than they needed to to give Jasson Domínguez a longer stay, to name a few.
“That’s the thing, we have real options waiting in the wings,” Boone said Wednesday when asked about that aggressiveness. “So I think that’s good for creating competition, and ultimately just serves us well, whether an injury comes up or whether a guy earns more and more opportunities with performance. I like where we’re at.”
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