Panama’s José Caballero (Chema): A Threat at the Grassroots Level and Safe Hands

Panamanian José Caballero is just six games away from matching the 40 games he played with the New York Yankees in 2015, but with one clear difference: his impact on the field has grown significantly at the start of this season.  Caballero, traded to New York on the last day of July 2025, played his 34th game of the season on Monday. The coaching staff’s confidence in him is reflected in increased starting roles, which has boosted his official at-bats by 51%. That extra volume translates into production: he has 10 more hits than in the same period last year, an additional home run, and four more stolen bases.

Although some metrics have dipped slightly, the decrease is not significant: his batting average dropped from .266 to .261, keeping him competitive while still having room to match the 15 stolen bases he previously recorded.  If his performance is projected to about 155 games, Caballero would post personal impact numbers: 59 stolen bases, 73 runs scored, 59 RBIs, 27 doubles and 18 home runs, all potential career highs.  His closest precedent for this volume was in 2014, when he played 139 games with the Tampa Bay Rays. In that season, he hit 9 home runs, 24 doubles, and drove in 44 runs, numbers he is projected to far surpass today. 

The situation in New York has also shifted in his favor. Last Sunday, the Yankees optioned Anthony Volpe to Triple-A, a decision that makes it clear that, as the season enters its second month, Caballero has solidified his position as the starting shortstop.  “Caballero is playing the position wonderfully and doing really well, so that complicates things. Now we have to decide what the role is right now, and we’ll work our way through it,” manager Aaron Boone said, referring to the team’s internal situation. 

Beyond Volpe’s 19 home runs and 72 RBIs in 2025, doubts arose due to his defensive inconsistency: he committed 19 errors in 153 games, with a fielding percentage of .963. Caballero, in contrast, has a solid .979 with just three errors in 34 games.  The difference is also evident in the execution of key plays. Volpe recorded 60 double plays throughout last season, while Caballero has already accumulated 21 in just over a month of action. 

 The Advanced Metric

From the perspective of Baseball Savant and the Statcast system, the numbers reinforce his defensive impact.  Fielding Run Value —a metric that quantifies how many runs a player saves or costs with his defense relative to the average—places the Panamanian in the league’s elite 13%. Adding to this is ‘Outs Above Average’ (OAA), which measures defensive range and the ability to turn difficult plays into outs; in this category, Caballero ranks among the top 7%. 

What began as a utility role has rapidly evolved. Caballero has established himself at the position over names like Amed Rosario, Oswald Peraza, and Osvaldo Cabrera, solidifying his status as a reliable player both with the glove and on the bases.  The internal competition isn’t gone. Prospect George Lombard Jr. is pushing hard from the minor leagues with impressive numbers, but for now, the starting job has a name: José Manuel Caballero Ortega.  The Yankees have gotten off to a strong start with a 24-11 record, leading the American League East by 1.5 games over Tampa Bay, 8.0 over Toronto, 9.0 over Baltimore, and 10.0 over Boston. In this competitive environment, Caballero has not just delivered; he’s become a key factor.