Jose Caballero will experience an uptick in his fantasy baseball upside in the early stages of the 2026 MLB season since he’s slated to open the campaign as the Yankees’ everyday shortstop while Anthony Volpe recovers from a shoulder injury. Will the new role boost Caballero’s upside, or will he continue being a low-range depth option at shortstop, a position that happens to be absolutely loaded with talent?
The numbers from the 2025 season aren’t encouraging, though. The Yankees acquired Caballero from the Rays before the deadline, and he managed to hit .266/.372/.456 with 15 stolen bases and 3 home runs across 95 regular-season plate appearances for New York. What’s in store for the versatile defender in 2026?
Even though Caballero will open the 2026 season as the Yankees’ everyday shortstop, that figures to be a short-lived scenario. Volpe has been participating in fielding drills and has already been cleared to dive on his left shoulder. He’s not expected to be ready to return to action until late April or early May, and a more precise call will be made as his rehab progresses.
Jose Caballero 2026 Fantasy Baseball Projection: Strengths and Weaknesses
Essentially, Caballero can be considered a one-category player in fantasy heading into the 2026 season. He doesn’t hit for average or power, although he’s looking to make adjustments on that front.
His .236 average in 2025 was a career-high mark, but that’s not good enough in fantasy to make him a viable option. Nor are his run-producing numbers, and his bench role doesn’t exactly help him in that regard.
Caballero’s goal is to get his average bat speed up to 71 mph this season, and while that would remain below average for league standards, it’d be an upgrade over his 69.1 mph average in 2025. Caballero hit 5 homers in 2025 and 9 in 2024, so it’d be a stretch to think one simple tweak would be enough to allow him to reach double-digit dingers.
Still, even if Caballero finds a way to reach double-digit homers, he’ll earn most of his fantasy value by what he does on the basepaths. Caballero has stolen at least 40 bases in back-to-back seasons, and if we’re being realistic, that’s the only area in which he projects to have any sort of value ahead of the 2026 fantasy baseball season.
Thus, don’t target Caballero until your later rounds, and do it only if you’re in dire need of a speedster who can rack up stolen bases. Caballero will have some upside in the opening weeks of the season, but he shouldn’t carry a lot of value once Volpe is back in the mix. He’s not a player you’d like to target until you’re closing in on the final stages of your draft.
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