{"id":479563,"date":"2026-02-14T13:24:07","date_gmt":"2026-02-14T13:24:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/479563\/"},"modified":"2026-02-14T13:24:07","modified_gmt":"2026-02-14T13:24:07","slug":"yankees-shortstop-fill-in-on-mission-to-show-he-can-play-every-day","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/479563\/","title":{"rendered":"Yankees\u2019 shortstop fill-in on mission to show he \u2018can play every day\u2019"},"content":{"rendered":"

TAMPA, Fla. \u2014 Jose Caballero<\/a> isn\u2019t looking to turn Anthony Volpe into a modern-day Wally Pipp in his first full season with the Yankees<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Not at all.<\/p>\n

He\u2019s content starting at shortstop until Volpe returns from his offseason labrum surgery sometime in May or so, then get back to showcasing his versatility. But while Caballero is playing regular early in the season, he wants to convince the Yankees that he deserves every-day playing time as a super-utility infielder\/outfielder.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019ll try to take advantage of the opportunity and show everyone that I can play every day,\u201d said Caballero, who was traded by the Rays to the Yankees last July 31 after his old and new club finished a game at Yankee Stadium.<\/p>\n

The 29-year-old Panama native plans on doing that by stealing a bunch of bases again after leading the American League with 44 in 2024 and topping the majors with 49 last season.<\/p>\n

His goal for 2026 is a new career high.<\/p>\n

\u201cFifty,\u201d he said. \u201cWe can build from there. And I want to be above 80 percent successful.\u201d<\/p>\n

That seems very doable since he was one steal shy with a 81.2 percent success rate last season.<\/p>\n

What figures to be more challenging is Caballero reaching one of his other personal season goals. The right-handed hitter wants to show he can be a lot better than his career .228 batting average indicates.<\/p>\n

\u201cLike a good player would say, I\u2019m always going to shoot for .300,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Caballero was a pretty good hitter for the Yankees, batting .266 with three homers in 40 games, after hitting just .226 with two homers in 86 games playing for Tampa Bay. Combined, he finished well below .300 at .236.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think more playing time can help with that,\u201d he said. \u201cI\u2019m not saying this is an excuse, but sometimes whenever you are on the bench for a few days, it\u2019s not easy to get back in there and hit. If you get seven at-bats in a week, it\u2019s hard to hit.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen you get regular at-bats it\u2019s easier. I think everyone can say that.\u201d<\/p>\n

That\u2019s probably true, but Caballero hit just .236 with nine homers and a low .686 OPS playing for the Rays in 2024 while racking up a career-high 483 plate appearances in 139 games, 123 of them starts at three positions. He was up 235 times in 86 games last year, 95 in 40 appearances during his two months with the Yankees.<\/p>\n

\u201cFor sure, I think I can be a better hitter,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

The Yankees agree.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think there\u2019s more room in that, more akin to who he was with us,\u201d manager Aaron Boone said. \u201cHopefully he can get to that level where it is a more consistent offensive profile. He shows the ability to control the strike zone a little bit. He had a decent (.339) on-base (percentage) last year. He didn\u2019t hit a ton of homers. Not that that\u2019s his game by any means, but he does show the ability to impact the ball a little bit.\u201d<\/p>\n

High average or not, the Yankees loved what Caballero adds to their roster in addition to the basestealing and versatility.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe\u2019s just a real gritty gamer, a tough, competitive, scrappy out at the plate,\u201d Boone said. \u201cWe like that about him. We like what he brings to the table. He does the short game well. He can hit behind a runner. He can bunt. He can bunt for a hit.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think the thing that stands out about Jose is confidence. He just plays the game with a lot of confidence and loves the action, loves the competition, and that that shows through with him. It seems like the bigger the at-bat, the tougher out he becomes.\u201d<\/p>\n

Cabellero was better in clutch situations last season, batting .269 with runners in scoring position compared to .225 in his other at-bats.<\/p>\n

\u201cOne thing about me, I feel like when I get at-bats that really matter in the game I focus a little bit more,\u201d he said. \u201cI\u2019m focused all the time, but hitting in a big situation helps bring the best out of me.\u201d<\/p>\n

Caballero loves being a Yankee after playing his rookie season in 2023 with Seattle and then much of the next two with the Rays.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe group made it way easy to fit in,\u201d he said. \u201cWhen you have guys like Paul Goldschmidt, whose been around, and Aaron Judge, the captain \u2026 Judge brings you right into the team and treats you like you\u2019ve been here longer.\u201d<\/p>\n

Caballero is determined for his 2026 to be better than 2025. He wants that individually and for the Yankees, who lost a Division Series to the Blue Jays last October after going into the postseason thinking they could win the World Series.<\/p>\n

\u201cI just want to help the team,\u201d he said. \u201cThat\u2019s the main thing. Help the team win some games. That and like I said, show the Yankees that I can play every day.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"TAMPA, Fla. \u2014 Jose Caballero isn\u2019t looking to turn Anthony Volpe into a modern-day Wally Pipp in his…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":479564,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[558],"tags":[64,63,591,85],"class_list":["post-479563","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-mlb","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-mlb","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/479563","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=479563"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/479563\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/479564"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=479563"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=479563"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=479563"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}