Yankees Confirm Anthony Volpe as Starting SS Upon Recovery

Cashman Confirms: Volpe Will Be the Yankees’ Starting Shortstop in 2026

The New York Yankees general manager, Brian Cashman, has reaffirmed his confidence in Anthony Volpe as the team’s starting shortstop for the 2026 season, once the player recovers from his shoulder surgery.

“I still believe in the player. I think we believe in the player,” Cashman stated. “That doesn’t mean we don’t evaluate all aspects of the roster. He’s 24 years old. I don’t think the New York stage is too big for him. He’s just finding his way.”

Brian Cashman

Yankees manager Aaron Boone announced that Volpe will not be able to bat for at least four months and will not be able to throw with his operated left shoulder for six months. Cashman added that they expect Volpe to be ready “at some point in April; perhaps, in the worst-case scenario, in May.” The Yankees will begin the 2026 season in San Francisco against the Giants on March 25. Volpe failed to improve in his third season in the Major Leagues, with a batting average of .212 and an OPS of .663, in addition to showing a decline in defense in the 153 regular season games. In his career, he has a batting average of .222 and an OPS of .662. Dr. Chris Ahmad, the Yankees team doctor, performed arthroscopic surgery to repair a partial labrum tear in Volpe’s left shoulder on Tuesday, less than a week after the end of his disappointing 2025 season. Cashman, who insisted during the season that he didn’t believe the injury was a factor in Volpe’s poor performance, said the necessary surgical cleanup was more “severe” than the MRI prior to surgery showed.

“Personally, I now believe that yes, it was affecting him,” Cashman said. “Because in the end, he had to undergo surgery. None of that was really on the table during the season.”

Brian Cashman

Volpe suffered the injury in early May and often wore a bandage to treat his shoulder after games. He was never placed on the injured list for the next five months, but he received two cortisone shots, one during the All-Star break in July and another in September, to alleviate the pain. Volpe did not start in six consecutive games to recover from the injection in September, but returned to his role as starting shortstop for the last 10 games of the regular season and in the postseason. He went 4-11 in the American League Wild Card Series against the Boston Red Sox, but finished the year 1-15 with 11 strikeouts in the American League Division Series against the Toronto Blue Jays. In September, days after Volpe received the second cortisone injection, Cashman said surgery was not recommended, but that could change. Cashman said Thursday that he doesn’t believe Volpe was “deceiving anyone” in his communication with the training staff and team decision-makers about the shoulder injury. Volpe, a 2023 Gold Glove winner, also committed 19 errors this season, tied for third in the majors.

“I think the injury probably contributed to the performance he had, more than we would have thought based on our intimate involvement with him and our medical staff and how it developed,” Cashman said. “The facts are the facts: he had to undergo surgery that will keep him out.”

Brian Cashman

The Yankees named Volpe, then 21 years old, a lifelong Yankees fan born in New York City and raised in New Jersey, as their Opening Day shortstop in 2023 amid high expectations as the organization’s top prospect. But the one selected in the first round of the 2019 draft has been one of the worst regular players since he debuted in the majors that year. His wRC+ of 85 is tied for 100th among 103 players with at least 1,500 plate appearances in the last three seasons. His batting average of .222 and his on-base percentage of .283 are in last place. For now, at least, the Yankees plan to continue with Volpe as their starting shortstop once he recovers. José Caballero periodically covered Volpe at shortstop during the last two months of the season, and the Yankees could also use Oswaldo Cabrera in that position. “The offense is really in line with what he’s done in the first two years,” Boone said. “It’s had a lot of different faces, but you look at it and it’s been the same OPS. If the average has been lower, there’s been more power in some years. “For him to become that top-line shortstop, [his hitting] has to improve. He understands that. We understand that. He’s 24.”