Anthony Volpe demotion another sign these Yankees are acting more aggressively

Anthony Volpe’s debut, on Opening Day 2023, was supposed to be the start of something.

Expectations for the Big Apple born, New Jersey raised, childhood Yankee fan were outrageously high. For good reason. Volpe, still 21 years old, had just captured the Yankees’ starting shortstop job with a sensational spring training. Talent evaluators gushed about his maturity, defensive acumen and baseball IQ.

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Drafted as a glove-first infielder with strong bat-to-ball skills, Volpe had reinvented himself by reengineering his swing for home run power. Recently departed Yankee legend Brett Gardner had even given Volpe permission to wear his No. 11 jersey. It was a bright, limitless future for the hometown kid living out his dream.

On Tuesday, Volpe will, for the first time since his big league debut, return to the minor leagues in earnest. After undergoing offseason shoulder surgery, Volpe had been playing in Double-A and Triple-A on a rehab assignment. But with that 20-day rehab clock expiring, the American League leading Yankees optioned the 25-year-old to Triple-A on Sunday night. José Caballero, whom the club acquired from Tampa Bay at last year’s trade deadline, will continue on as the starting shortstop.

It’s a stunning move, one that Yankees brass had, time and time again, appeared hesitant to make. Volpe, despite lackluster offensive showings throughout his first three major league seasons, received unwavering support from manager Aaron Boone and general manager Brian Cashman. Even team owner Hal Steinbrenner publicly backed the scuffling shortstop at one point. And as recently as mid-April, Cashman implied that Volpe would likely regain his starting spot upon completing his rehab assignment.

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But that’s not how things played out.

Part of it has to do with Caballero, who has shined defensively this season for a Yankees team laying waste to the American League. His surface-level offensive numbers are perfectly viable, even though his underlying metrics tell a different story. Clearly though, the frisky Panamanian has played well enough and given the Yankees enough of an edge for Volpe to end up back in Triple-A.

Volpe was an uninspiring 11-for-44 with one long ball and two steals during a 13-game rehab stint split between Double-A Somerset and Triple-A Scranton. His defense in that short sample was unspectacular. The Yankees flipped Volpe between the two levels to avoid him from going on the road — all 13 games were home games for Somerset and Scranton. That will change Tuesday with the Scranton/Wilkes-Barre RailRiders starting a six-game set against the Worcester Red Sox.

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It will be real, honest minor league ball.

For the 2026 Yankees, Volpe’s demotion is yet another decision that could be classified as uncharacteristically aggressive.

During their recent run of success, the Cashman-led Yankees have generally opted for patience over panic. They’ve shown a willingness to wait out stretches of poor performance, often to the ire of the club’s particularly demanding fan base. Volpe, who holds the third-lowest OPS in MLB since 2023 among players with 1,500 plate appearances, became an emblem of that wait-and-see approach.

Sticking with Caballero is a sign that things might be changing.

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With just over a month of the season gone by, the Yankees’ transaction log is littered with moves that display a sense of urgency. On April 29 they designated struggling veteran outfielder Randal Grichuk for assignment when they easily could have optioned utility man Max Schuemann. Two days before that New York optioned starting pitcher Luis Gil back to Triple-A after the 2024 Rookie of the Year was non-competitive in three of his four MLB starts. Rookie Elmer Rodríguez took Gil’s spot in the rotation.

Veteran third baseman Ryan McMahon, acquired at last year’s trade deadline and currently the team’s seventh-highest paid player, was benched during an early season slump in favor of utility man Amed Rosario. The on-fire Ben Rice is finally getting everyday at-bats at first base, instead of being platooned with Paul Goldschmidt.

All these decisions send the same message: The Yankees are going to act aggressively, without fear of hurt feelings, in order to get their best lineup on the field every day.

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Right now, that lineup does not include Volpe, who will need to play his way back up to The Show. Caballero’s lackluster peripherals mean that an extended slump will arrive sooner or later. Volpe remains the more talented player, one with significantly more upside. It’s more likely he regains his starting spot before the postseason than not.

But the job is no longer his birthright, as it has seemed for the past three seasons.