Yankees 2026 Season Preview: José Caballero

Any description of José Caballero’s playing style will probably include something along the lines of “pest” or “hate him on other teams, love him when he plays for your team.” Well, as of last year at the trade deadline, he’s on our team.

Looking to improve on the depth of the roster, the Yankees picked up Caballero last summer in a semi-rare in-division trade with the Rays, essentially switching dugouts in the middle of a game between the two teams. After a bad miscue in his Yankee debut, he ended up playing quite well for them. His hitting outpaced anything he had done in his MLB career to that point, and he even had a walk-off hit to officially clinch a playoff berth.

Going into 2026, the Yankees will now have Caballero to start the season, and — at least at the beginning of the year — he’ll have a bigger role. Can “Cabby” keep up his play or will the utility infielder end up being a utility infielder again?

2025 Statistics (overall): 126 games, 370 plate appearances, .236/.339/.347, 5 HR, 36 RBI, 97 wRC+, 6 OAA, 2.1 fWAR

2025 Statistics (with NYY): 40 games, 95 plate appearances, .266/.372/.456, 3 HR, 9 RBI, 134 wRC+, 2 OAA, 1.1 fWAR

2026 FanGraphs Depth Chart Projections: 73 games, 315 plate appearances, .221/.314/.336, 6 HR, 30 RBI, 87 wRC+, 0.9 fWAR

As mentioned, the Yankees are going to have to rely on Caballero a decent amount, at least to start 2026. After the Yankees were eliminated this past October, shortstop Anthony Volpe underwent shoulder surgery and will almost certainly be out to start the season. At least with the current roster makeup, that leaves Caballero as the most obvious option to start at that spot to open the season.

Considering how Volpe’s career has gone so far and how Caballero played after coming to the Bronx, there are people out there who will suggest that the move should be a full time change. You can make up your own minds on that one, but it’s unlikely that the Yankees will do that. Caballero could maybe force the Yankees’ hands by getting off to a hot start and keeping it up, but we shall see.

It’s fairly easy to throw cold water on that notion, mainly because Caballero’s play after coming to the Yankees — especially at the plate — is just way out of line with his career numbers. Even with the 134 wRC+ after the trade, his career number sits at 91. Sure, he put up decent hitting numbers in his minor league career, so maybe the coaching staff and playing in Yankee Stadium more unlocked something, but I think in the long run, he’s probably a below average hitter.

That being said, even if he doesn’t hit anywhere close to what he did in his 40 Yankees’ games so far, he can still very much be a useful player. His defensive numbers grade out well at almost every defensive position that he’s played. According to Outs Above Average, center field is the only position he’s been a negative defender at, and he’s only played a handful of innings there. Beyond that, he’s also proven to be a very capable base runner. His 49 stolen bases last year lead all of MLB. While that total is far from the ones Rickey Henderson used to put up when he was leading the league, that’s obviously still a good amount. Especially so considering that Caballero got less than 400 plate appearances last year, meaning that he wasn’t leading off and playing every game.

With his speed and flexibility in the field, Caballero pretty perfectly fits the “pest” category and should be a useful player for the 2026 Yankees, even if he’s not a star with the bat.

See more of the Yankees Previews series here.