Anthony Volpe

Baseball is a game of inches. Literally. Nobody is more aware of that age-old truism than Volpe as the Yankees were unable to stave off elimination and keep their season alive. It looked momentarily like the much-harangued former top prospect was going to have his signature moment at Yankee Stadium before a replay review overturned a potential game-tying home run to left field due to some fairly obvious fan interference in the sixth inning. He struck out on seven pitches against Rays closer Bryan Baker leading off the ninth as the Yankees were swept out of the postseason by their division rivals.

Volpe smacked a two-run ground rule double in the sixth inning that extended the Yankees’ advantage to 4-0. That would prove to be the difference in the ballgame. he has been sizzling at the plate since his return from Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre, but with the return of Jazz Chisholm Jr. he’ll have to supplant Ryan McMahon at third base if he’s going to see meaningful playing time in the postseason.

The Yankees could have played José Caballero at third and Volpe at second with Jazz Chisholm Jr. and Ryan McMahon sitting against a lefty, but they want to see if Volpe can serve as an alternative to McMahon in the postseason. It’s just kind of weird that they’ve waited this long to do it.

Jazz Chisholm is back from the injured list, and Boone told Talkin’ Yanks that he prefers to keep Chisholm at second base and George Lombard at shortstop. That will mean that Volpe needs to play third base in order to remain in the starting lineup, which would push Jose Caballero back to the bench. Volpe is hitting .263 in 11 games in September with one home run, seven RBI scored, and four runs scored. He’s certainly better than Ryan McMahon, but how he handles the position defensively will determine if he’s a better option than Caballero.

Volpe came up in the top of the ninth with two on, two out, and the Yankees trailing by two. He delivered a two-run double off Minnesota closer Yoendrys Gómez, continuing his hot hitting since being recalled from Triple-A. Volpe has now started six of the team’s past seven games at second base with Jazz Chisholm Jr. on the IL.

Volpe certainly made the most of his return to the Bronx on Thursday. He smacked an RBI single off of Ryan Feltner in the second inning that increased the Yankees’ lead to 3-1. He also swiped third base before being stranded there. Volpe then delivered a 352-foot (104.0-mph EV) grand slam off of Jimmy Herget in the seventh inning that made it a 10-2 ballgame. With his three-hit attack, the 25-year-old infielder is now slashing .251/.333/.349 with just two homers, 24 RBI and eight stolen bases in 198 plate appearances with the Yankees this season.

Volpe could conceivably get a trial at second base while Jazz Chisholm Jr. is out — he was playing the position at Triple-A — but it’s more likely his playing time remains up-and-down, as it was when he was up before George Lombard Jr. was handed the keys at shortstop.

It makes sense. If George Lombard Jr. is coming up to be the Yankees’ shortstop of the future, then the team needs to figure out if they can play Volpe in another place. If Volpe were to look good at second, then the Yankees could shift Jazz Chisholm Jr. back to third base.

It’s possible we’ve seen Volpe for the final time this season with top prospect George Lombard Jr. set to take over as New York’s shortstop until further notice. The 25-year-old drew constant criticism for defensive miscues and never quite lived up to the stratospheric hype he generated in the minors. He’s still only 25 years old, which means there’s probably another organization out there willing to roll the dice on him down the road.

Aided by a run of lefty opponents, Volpe now started three out of four games after sitting out nine of the previous 13. He’s not exactly tearing it up with his .681 OPS this season, but he has overtaken José Caballero there. Caballero is down to .664 while hitting .211 with a 19/1 K/BB this month.

Volpe had sat the last two games with Jose Caballero playing shortstop, but Caballero will move to second base on Wednesday and Jazz Chisholm Jr. will get a day off. Earlier this season, Volpe became the first player in MLB history with over 1,800 plate appearances and an on-base percentage under .285. His defense at shortstop has improved this year, but he’s not giving the Yankees much else.

This will make back-to-back games that Volpe will sit with Jose Caballero playing shortstop. The 25-year-old has gotten on base at a respectable .340 clip, but he’s hit just one homer in 2026 and his .668 OPS on the year leaves much to be desired — and is unfortunately right in line with his career .662 number. Volpe has flashed the potential to be an excellent fantasy contributor, but it’s just too hard to trust him to be in lineups at this stage of his career.

Volpe got a second straight start at shortstop after sitting in José Caballero’s first two games back from the IL and has his best game of the season to date. The homer off Bailey Falter was his first in his 10 starts. He’s hitting .281/.425/.469 with seven RBI in 40 plate appearances.

The plot thickens. Volpe continues to produce, which is going to make it challenging for the Yankees to take his name off the lineup card. It’s not necessarily a bad problem at the moment since it buys José Caballaro, who is on the bench in this one, a little bit of time off as he returns from a fractured finger. Volpe went 1-for-3 with a pair of RBI during Monday’s series opener and has shown some positive signs in nine games since making his season debut earlier this month.

Volpe’s hit was a clean liner to left off Lucas Erceg. He struck out twice and walked once in his three previous plate appearance. Volpe was making his first start in the three games since José Caballero rejoined the Yankees, as manager Aaron Boone picked him over Ryan McMahon and started Caballero at third today. That might well be the team’s best alignment right now, since McMahon has remained a bust offensively while also not playing quite as well as usual defensively this season. Volpe is hitting .231/.412/.308 with five RBI in 34 plate appearances since being recalled.

The hits today were his first since his recall, but Volpe walked seven times in the three-game series against the Mets. One of today’s came with the bases loaded, knocking in one of his three runs. The Yankees have indicated that José Caballero will return from the IL as their starting shortstop, but Volpe will make it interesting if he keeps performing. Playing Caballero at third and benching Ryan McMahon might work out.

The Yankees had just one hit today, so Volpe’s 0-for-3 doesn’t stand out. However, if he hopes to stick around once José Caballero returns, he certainly can’t afford to play sloppy defense. His error today on a grounder in the eighth wasn’t a particularly bad one, but it was a poor 2026 first impression on the whole.

Volpe was recalled from Triple-A on Tuesday after Jose Caballero (finger) was put on the injured list. However, it was Max Schuemann who started at shortstop on Tuesday. Volpe should now play every day at shortstop until Caballero is back, but he hit just .205 in nine games at Triple-A. Caballero is also not expected to be out much longer than two weeks, so Volpe is more of a short-term add in deeper formats right now.

Volpe was hitting just .205 in nine Triple-A game, but 18 of his 30 balls in play were hit hard. He was also 4-for-4 overall stealing bases in 18 minor league games since returning from shoulder surgery. Although he’s not starting tonight because he’s in transit to the ballpark, he should be the regular shortstop while José Caballero is out, making him worth picking up in mixed leagues. If he excels, the Yankees could turn Caballero into a utilityman once he returns.

José Caballero has been playing well of late, though Statcast thinks he’s been very lucky with his solid .321 wOBA and poor .269 xwOBA. Meanwhile, Volpe has been hitting the ball hard — nine times in four Triple-A games — with middling results on his rehab assignment. That’s just a bad combination for Volpe, and the Yankees are obviously putting more weight on the actual numbers than the expected ones. Volpe should be the better player going forward, and the Yankees probably will give him another chance, perhaps as soon as a couple of weeks from now.