NEW YORK (AP) — Anthony Volpe has to earn back his New York Yankees job, just like any other prospect.
New York optioned the Gold Glove-winning shortstop to Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre on Sunday following the end of a 20-day minor league injury rehabilitation assignment that followed Oct. 14 surgery to repair a torn labrum in his left shoulder.
José Caballero, who helped the AL-best Yankees win 13 of 15 entering Monday, started at shortstop for the 34th times in 35 games.
"It's a surprise, but then also Caballero's rolling," said Yankees captain Aaron Judge, who called Volpe and spoke with him for 30-40 minutes on Sunday night. "I think the biggest thing is how the team is flowing right now. It's kind of tough to move some things around."
Volpe hit .250 (11 for 44) with one homer and six RBIs in 13 minor-league games during his rehab assignment. He is in a 1-for-11 slide.
"Whether he’s ticked off, happy, frustrated, whatever, I know he's going to grind," Yankees manager Aaron Boone said Monday. "I’m sure he's not thrilled about it and doesn't necessarily love that idea 'cause I think he's obviously worked really hard to go through this and going into this, we expected him to be, once this rehab was up, to be here and playing, and so that obviously changed over the last few weeks. But I think there's part of him that gets it, too, and Anthony's a pro."
New York's starting shortstop since 2023, Volpe has struggled at the plate, hitting .222 with 52 homers, 192 RBIs and 70 stolen bases over three seasons. His .212 average last year was 144th among 145 qualifiers, his play hampered after he hurt his left shoulder on May 3.
"He's going to be more motivated than ever to come back here," Judge said. "If it's even him as a utility guy, anything, just to get himself back up here, because besides what he can do on the field, he's a big part in this clubhouse and this dugout."
Caballero entered Monday hitting .259 with four homers, 12 RBIs and 13 stolen bases — tied for the AL lead. He was batting .316 in his last 21 games.
Caballero's seven defensive runs tied Boston's Wilyer Abreu for third in the major leagues, trailing Chicago Cubs centerfielder Pete Crow-Armstrong (10) and Seattle second baseman Cole Young (eight).
"We have a lot of really good players right now and competing for real roles and real spots and I think that competition ultimately is going to be a great thing for us," Boone said. "It doesn't change how we feel about Anthony or the kind of player we think he is and will be. But in this moment of time we felt like this was absolutely the right thing to do."
If Volpe remains on option to the minors for at least 20 days, it would delay his free-agent eligibility by a year until after the 2029 World Series. For now, he'll play shortstop for the RailRiders and not other infield positions.
"If we have those conversations as the days unfold, we'll have those, but not right now," Boone said.
George Lombard Jr., a top prospect promoted to Triple-A on April 29, "will bounce around," according to the manager.
Volpe will follow the path of outfielder Jasson Domínguez, who spent his first 24 games at Scranton and then rejoined the Yankees on April 27 after Giancarlo Stanton strained a calf muscle.
"This has been a tremendous character reveal for Jasson. All he's done is put his head down and had a smile on his face and worked his tail off and played really good baseball and now is up here earning real time again," Boone said. "Anthony’s going to have a long career, be a really good player in this league. His next step as a player is gaining that consistency offensively. Even through some of his struggles, I think he's been a way better player than some of the narratives around him sometimes are."
