Jackie Robinson’s influence on baseball and the Los Angeles Dodgers
How Jackie Robinson reinvented Major League Baseball and created a lasting legacy of diversity and community with the Los Angeles Dodgers.
The New York Yankees broke the American League’s best record without Anthony Volpe. And now that their shortstop is healthy enough to return, they have decided to continue without him.
The Yankees reinstated Volpe from a minor league rehab assignment and assigned him to Class AAA Scranton/Wilkes-Barre on Sunday, May 3. It was a somewhat surprising move for a player who once seemed to be part of the club’s core.
Volpe, who turned 25 on April 28, underwent offseason surgery on his left shoulder, missed all spring training, and had a lengthy rehab assignment on the horizon. But the club did get a pleasant surprise from backup Jose Caballero, who boasts four home runs and a career-best .711 OPS.
For now, he’s in the running for the Yankees, who are 23-11 and could earn a four-game sweep against division rival Baltimore on Monday. In the bigger picture, Volpe also faces significant competition from top prospect George Lombard Jr., who was recently promoted from Class AA to AAA and is batting .304 with a .913 OPS and four home runs at two levels.
This would be a steep fall for Volpe, who was drafted 30th overall in the 2019 draft and emerged from a crowded field of promising shortstops, beating out Oswaldo Peraza for the permanent job. He hit 21 home runs and finished eighth in the 2023 Rookie of the Year voting, but his rating declined due to his career on-base percentage of .283 and defensive failures.
This allowed Caballero, acquired from Tampa Bay in July 2025, to grab the position. Caballero’s 1.3 WAR in 34 games this year is roughly on par with Volpe’s 1.6 WAR in 153 games last season.
