is ready to return from offseason shoulder surgery<\/a>.<\/p>\nThe Yankees got a taste of Caballero\u2019s impact over the final two months of last season \u2014 felt most consistently with his speed on the basepaths, ability to play all over the field and his legitimate defense as a backup shortstop \u2014 and now, he has an opportunity to build on that in an everyday role over the first month-plus of this season.<\/p>\n
Jos\u00e9 Caballero hits a home run during the Yankees\u2019 Feb. 22 Grapefruit League game. Charles Wenzelberg<\/p>\n
\u201cThat\u2019s out of my control,\u201d Caballero said Sunday after hitting a home run in a 6-4 loss to the Mets when asked how the shortstop dynamic might play out. \u201cI control what I can control. I\u2019m going to go out there and do my best every day. They make the decision.\u201d<\/p>\n
The reality is that even if Caballero crushes it over the first month-plus of the season, the Yankees are likely to give a healthy Volpe a runway to show that he can still be their starting shortstop. <\/p>\n
Since late last year, when there were questions about whether Caballero should take over for Volpe at the position, the Yankees have believed they are at their best when Caballero is their 10th man and a weapon off the bench.<\/p>\n
But Caballero at least has a chance to make the decision an interesting one by taking advantage of the everyday playing time.<\/p>\n
Jos\u00e9 Caballero makes a play during the Yankees\u2019 Feb. 20 Grapefruit League game. Charles Wenzelberg<\/p>\n
\u201cHe\u2019s just so good at so many different positions, and there\u2019s some fast-twitch in there, which obviously [helps with] stolen bases, he\u2019s so dynamic on the basepaths,\u201d Boone said. \u201cYou want the ball hit to him, wherever you put him. He\u2019s good in the outfield; he\u2019s good at all the infield positions. But there\u2019s just a confidence, if he\u2019s sitting over there for a few days, he brings a lot to the table that you want to have of a bench player late in a game. So just a lot of things he brings to the table.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe\u2019s one of those guys that\u2019s a really good complete-your-roster [player] for a winning club.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
Boone paired up Caballero and Chisholm for the second time in three games Sunday and plans to have them play three more games together this week before they each leave to play in the World Baseball Classic \u2014 Caballero for Panama and Chisholm for Great Britain.<\/p>\n
The good news is that the two already have prior history together as young minor leaguers in the Diamondbacks organization. <\/p>\n
Each eventually was traded away, but their comfort working together has quickly returned now that they are Yankees.<\/p>\n
Anthony Volpe makes a play during the Yankees\u2019 Feb. 16 workout. Charles Wenzelberg<\/p>\n
\u201cHe\u2019s not scared to play his game,\u201d Chisholm said. \u201cA lot of guys get to the big leagues or New York and try to play a different game and not be themselves. That\u2019s the best thing about him is that he comes out there and he is himself. He\u2019s not afraid to be himself. That\u2019s what helps him with his overall game.\u201d<\/p>\n
That also applies to Chisholm, which is perhaps another element that makes them simpatico in addition to their confidence. <\/p>\n
\t\t\t\t\t\t\tGo beyond the box score with the Bombers\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\tSign up for Inside the Yankees by Greg Joyce, exclusively on Sports+.\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n
\t\t\t\t\t\tThank you\n\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n
(When asked who was more confident in their abilities between Caballero and Chisholm, Boone grinned and answered Clarke Schmidt.)<\/p>\n
Caballero, coming off leading the majors with 49 steals, is more of a burner while Chisholm has more power. <\/p>\n
But Caballero flashed his own pop Sunday, a home run off Justin Hagenman reminiscent of some of the power shows he puts on during batting practice.<\/p>\n
\u201cI can hit the ball hard,\u201d Caballero said. \u201cIt\u2019s not [always] showing in the game, so I\u2019m trying to be more consistent with it.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"TAMPA \u2014 Quick: Which member of the Yankees double-play combination \u2014 at least to start the season \u2014…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":587728,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2376],"tags":[1205,5,4,1690,62,2548,2547,185,151,142],"class_list":{"0":"post-587727","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-new-york-yankees","8":"tag-anthony-volpe","9":"tag-baseball","10":"tag-mlb","11":"tag-new-york","12":"tag-new-york-yankees","13":"tag-newyork","14":"tag-newyorkyankees","15":"tag-sports","16":"tag-spring-training","17":"tag-yankees"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@mlb\/116117971085256592","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/587727","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=587727"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/587727\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/587728"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=587727"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=587727"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=587727"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}