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The New York Yankees received a blunt take regarding what to do with Anthony Volpe once the shortstop returns from his injury. Volpe had offseason surgery to repair a torn labrum in his non-throwing shoulder and is likely to miss Opening Day.
Since 2023, Volpe has posted a .222 batting average, 382 hits, 52 home runs, 192 RBIs, and 217 runs scored, while winning one Gold Glove award, per StatMuse. As a result, the 2026 MLB season could be a make-or-break campaign for the shortstop in the Bronx.
Whenever Yankees manager Aaron Boone sees Volpe fit to return, WFAN’s Tommy Lugauer believes that the team should force the shortstop to earn back his starting job rather than handing it back to him.
“I don’t believe Anthony Volpe should be handed back the starting job once he’s healthy,” Lugauer said on Feb. 19 on WFAN. “José Caballero should be the starting shortstop once Volpe gets back. Allow Volpe to earn the starting shortstop gig back, because there’s this perception that he is the golden boy, that he gets these things handed to him, that he has a longer leash than others.
“Yankee fans are going to meet him with boos if he struggles early. You’re not putting Anthony Volpe in a good position based off last year, which was a nightmare. If you just hand him the starting shortstop gig back, let him climb back up the mountain. It’s best for him.”
Downside of Yankees Handing Anthony Volpe Starting Job Back
Moreover, with Lugauer believing that Volpe going through adversity to earn back his starting job could be good for him in the long run, there is also the downside of sitting José Caballero, who might be playing well to start the season, just to hand the job back to Volpe.
“If Caballero is playing well and Volpe is given the job and they sit Caballero and Volpe struggles, he’s going to hear it from the fans, and that does him zero favors,” Lugauer added.
“The numbers, year by year, have gone down for Volpe. The approach at the plate is bad. The defense has been awful. The batting average is abysmal, and I wonder where he’s at mentally, considering last year when he heard a lot of boos.”
Anthony Volpe Injury Update
Ahead of spring training games getting underway and the 2026 season fast approaching, Yankees reporter for YES Network, Meredith Marakovits, shared the latest regarding Volpe’s injury recovery.
“He told me that the tear in his labrum was perhaps a little bit worse than they thought once they actually got in there and started doing the surgery, and they put about six sutures in it,” Marakovits said during a Feb. 19 appearance on MLB Network. “He said he woke up and was just excited that it was fixed and he can start the rehab process.
“Now he’s started his hitting program the other day, so he is likely going to start the season on the IL, and it’ll take him some time to make sure he gets full strength back in that, goes through that hitting program, and goes through the throwing at shortstop.”
Eduardo Razo Eduardo Razo is a sports writer for Heavy.com, covering the NFL, MLB, and college football. He has previously covered the NFL, NBA, NHL, and MLB for NBC Sports Washington and NBC Sports Bay Area & California, and has freelanced for PSG Talk, covering Paris Saint-Germain. He also worked as an editor at Athlon Sports, focusing on MLB and the NFL. More about Eduardo Razo
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