Five games behind the Toronto Blue Jays with less than two weeks left in the season, the New York Yankees need to get a move on. If the season ended today, the Yankees would be the AL's first Wild Card. Coming off two straight losses, New York will look to right the ship in the second game of their three-game set against the Minnesota Twins. Ahead of the Tuesday night clash, manager Aaron Boone inserted shortstop Anthony Volpe back into the starting lineup. He explained his rationale to team beat reporter Max Goodman, who shared the manager's thoughts via X, formerly Twitter.
“[Volpe's] ready to go,” Boone said to Goodman pregame. “And also, Caballero is not a guy that plays every single day, and I want to be mindful of that. He's a little beat up, too. Want to get Anthony back into the mix here and hopefully he gives us some spark today.”
The 24-year-old received cortisone shot a few days ago and appeared as a substitute in Monday's 7-0 loss to the Twins. Now, it appears that Boone will turn to Volpe to inject a spark into a Yankees lineup that was listless against one of the AL's worst teams. Will the labrum tear that Volpe is nursing continue to hinder his production? If so, will he provide the spark that Boone hopes for, or would it be better to continue and play Caballero at shortstop?
Yankees look to continue push for AL East title, playoff berth
Even if Caballero does need a couple of days off, Boone also has veteran Amed Rosario as an option to play shortstop. If Volpe isn't ready to make a full-time return to the lineup, utilizing Rosario in addition to Caballero could help take some pressure off the young shortstop's shoulders. With a postseason trip looming, Boone will need as many players at full strength as he can get.
Even with the shot and rest, Volpe will not be at full strength. Even though his labrum tear has been categorized as “small,” it has clearly affected him for the last four months. Furthermore, this is another big injury that the Yankees' medical staff has mishandled. Former first baseman Anthony Rizzo was allowed to play for months after sustaining a concussion. Now Volpe's shoulder has also been mistreated. Would it behoove New York to let its young shortstop rest, even if it's for a couple of more days?
