The New York Yankees didn’t just fly home from Baltimore with a 7–1, extra-innings win. They also pocketed a 7–3 road trip. They came back with a clearer picture of their October spine. If you read between Brendan Kuty’s lines in The Athletic, the shortstop decision is effectively in ink. The debate that seemed to tilt in favor of José Caballero a week ago has swung back to Anthony Volpe. The timing could reshape how Aaron Boone scripts the Wild Card series.
From “Uh-oh” to “It’s His Job”
A week ago, Volpe’s left shoulder was the cloud you could see from five boroughs away. He’d been managing a partial labrum tear since May. He aggravated it earlier this month and required another cortisone shot. That’s the kind of detail that makes fans flinch when picturing a 96-mph sinker boring in on the hands. The public updates matched the worry: a second injection, day-to-day language, and the club acknowledging the small tear.
Then the calendar and the bat speed changed. Since returning, Volpe has gone 6-for-15 with cleaner actions at short. This is the exact type of five-game snapshot that front offices hate to over-value. That is, unless it’s attached to a former cornerstone prospect whose shoulder finally feels like a shoulder again. Kuty’s read is blunt: the Yankees would be better served with Volpe starting at short in October. Caballero’s speed and versatility get weaponized off the bench.
None of this erases the season-long line (.211/.279/.397 entering Monday) or the error count that made boos constant. However, it plausibly explains the dip—playing through a tear affects performance—and reveals upside. Caballero, steady as he’s been, doesn’t provide. Volpe’s range and first step can still swipe a base. His bat, when on plane, can still punish mistakes. If the medicals clear him, the ceiling argument prevails.
Why It Matters More Than You Think
Zoom out to the Yankees’ broader math. Ben Rice’s 10th-inning grand slam in Baltimore kept alive faint division hopes. More importantly, it tightened the club’s runway to lock the top wild card and set pitching and usage exactly how Boone wants it. You can feel the staff treating every night like Game 2 already. A settled shortstop lets them script the late innings with fewer if-thens.
Caballero, as a turbocharged bench piece, pairs cleanly with this posture. Need a seventh-inning steal? A ninth-inning defensive shuffle? A squeeze look? Caballero’s value spikes the second the Yankees are nursing a one-run lead. Volpe, meanwhile, gets the full game to validate the bet. He also gets the wiggle room to be subbed late without detonating the rest of the card. This is the modern playoff calculus: maximize your top-end outcomes in the first six and optimize leverage with specialists in the last three. Kuty’s framing tracks exactly with that model.
There’s risk, of course. Shoulders are fickle, October at-bats tense, and a cold week can reignite every summer argument. The Yankees aren’t choosing sentiment; they’re choosing probability. If Volpe’s health bump is real—and recent contact suggests it—his two-way upside at short beats the safer floor. In a three-game set, one backhand or one 2-0 mistake can swing a season.
Consider Sunday’s template: deep bullpen, timely thunder, enough defense. That formula carried New York out of Baltimore and is what they’ll try to bottle for the Wild Card. Making Volpe the guy at short signals they’re chasing upside, not just avoiding errors. As October tightens, that’s the type of decision contenders make—and the one Kuty suggests the Yankees already have.