This story was excerpted from Bryan Hoch’s Yankees Beat newsletter. To read the full newsletter, click here. And subscribe to get it regularly in your inbox.
Anthony Volpe isn’t in the Yankees’ lineup yet, but you wouldn’t have known it by the way he hung on the dugout rail throughout the team’s series against the Rays at Tropicana Field, tracking swings and shouting encouragement.
While he readies to begin a Minor League rehab assignment on Tuesday with Double-A Somerset, Volpe’s innings cheering from the sidelines have reinforced this: He can’t wait to be back between the lines.
“I missed the guys,” Volpe said. “You watch on TV and you get texts after a game, but to be with everyone in the fight and everything -- it’s a helpless feeling at the same time, but that’s what you miss the most, the camaraderie.
“You live and die with the guys, what they’re trying to do. You’re watching the pitchers to imagine you’re in the box. That’s how I do it.”
Volpe wore a smile as he rolled a travel bag into The Trop’s visiting clubhouse on Sunday morning, a sure indication that his recovery from left shoulder surgery performed in October is entering a new phase.
Traveling with the team north to New York, Volpe is scheduled to be seen by team physician Dr. Christopher Ahmad on Monday. Assuming that goes well, Volpe will be in the lineup for Double-A Somerset on Tuesday -- not too far from where he grew up in Watchung, N.J.
It’s an opportunity to score some home cooking, but he’s hoping to spend as little time as possible there before rejoining the big league lineup.
“My family is happy,” Volpe said. “But I’m so excited to just play. I’m probably the most excited I’ve ever been, just having that perspective. It doesn’t matter. I’ll play anywhere. I’ll do anything. So it’s going to be great.”
Yankees manager Aaron Boone said Volpe has responded “really well” to the last six to eight weeks of training, and his work at the team’s complex in Tampa, Fla., should allow him to “hit the ground running” in the Minors.
“When he first went down to Tampa right after the new year, he almost immediately started making big gains and feeling better,” Boone said. “I know he’s excited to get back, and I know how he works. He’s taken a ton of at-bats and gotten a ton of reps in the field.”
The goal, according to general manager Brian Cashman, is to have Volpe log about 55 plate appearances before he reclaims his role as the starting shortstop.
“That’s always been the plan, but ultimately it’s the manager’s call,” Cashman said.
Volpe said he senses a noticeable difference compared to last season, when he required regular attention after injuring the shoulder on May 3.
“It’s just nice when you’re doing treatments and exercises, and it just keeps improving and getting better,” Volpe said. “Every day, I feel better than the last day, so that’s definitely different.”
In Volpe’s absence, José Caballero has received consistent playing time at shortstop. Caballero had a pair of big hits late in Saturday’s 5-4, 10-inning loss, which he said would serve as a confidence boost after a slow start at the plate.
The Yankees believe Caballero will be more productive bouncing around the diamond in a 10th-man/utility role, providing an opportunity for Volpe to rebound after a 2025 season in which he batted .212/.272/.391 (83 OPS+) with 19 homers, 72 RBIs and 18 stolen bases in 153 games.
Volpe said he believes the layoff could be an advantage, as it allowed him time to deconstruct his swing and identify bat-path flaws that may lead to increased production in the months to come.
“That was a big part of it, to have a blank slate and analyze stuff,” Volpe said. “We found some stuff where it kind of went wrong. The stuff we worked on … I feel like I can make adjustments off it.”