TAMPA — Quick: Which member of the Yankees double-play combination — at least to start the season — is Aaron Boone discussing?
“He plays the game with a ton of confidence. Sometimes, I got to try to rein his confidence in a little bit, but it’s a gift that he’s got. When he’s out there, he thinks he’s the best player on the field.”
Jazz Chisholm Jr. would be an understandable guess.
But the manager was, in fact, referring to José Caballero, who starts the season as the Yankees starting shortstop next to Chisholm, at least until Anthony Volpe is ready to return from offseason shoulder surgery.
The Yankees got a taste of Caballero’s impact over the final two months of last season — felt most consistently with his speed on the basepaths, ability to play all over the field and his legitimate defense as a backup shortstop — and now, he has an opportunity to build on that in an everyday role over the first month-plus of this season.
“That’s out of my control,” Caballero said Sunday after hitting a home run in a 6-4 loss to the Mets when asked how the shortstop dynamic might play out. “I control what I can control. I’m going to go out there and do my best every day. They make the decision.”
The reality is that even if Caballero crushes it over the first month-plus of the season, the Yankees are likely to give a healthy Volpe a runway to show that he can still be their starting shortstop.
Since late last year, when there were questions about whether Caballero should take over for Volpe at the position, the Yankees have believed they are at their best when Caballero is their 10th man and a weapon off the bench.
But Caballero at least has a chance to make the decision an interesting one by taking advantage of the everyday playing time.
“He’s just so good at so many different positions, and there’s some fast-twitch in there, which obviously [helps with] stolen bases, he’s so dynamic on the basepaths,” Boone said. “You want the ball hit to him, wherever you put him. He’s good in the outfield; he’s good at all the infield positions. But there’s just a confidence, if he’s sitting over there for a few days, he brings a lot to the table that you want to have of a bench player late in a game. So just a lot of things he brings to the table.
“He’s one of those guys that’s a really good complete-your-roster [player] for a winning club.”
Boone paired up Caballero and Chisholm for the second time in three games Sunday and plans to have them play three more games together this week before they each leave to play in the World Baseball Classic — Caballero for Panama and Chisholm for Great Britain.
The good news is that the two already have prior history together as young minor leaguers in the Diamondbacks organization.
Each eventually was traded away, but their comfort working together has quickly returned now that they are Yankees.
“He’s not scared to play his game,” Chisholm said. “A lot of guys get to the big leagues or New York and try to play a different game and not be themselves. That’s the best thing about him is that he comes out there and he is himself. He’s not afraid to be himself. That’s what helps him with his overall game.”
That also applies to Chisholm, which is perhaps another element that makes them simpatico in addition to their confidence.
(When asked who was more confident in their abilities between Caballero and Chisholm, Boone grinned and answered Clarke Schmidt.)
Caballero, coming off leading the majors with 49 steals, is more of a burner while Chisholm has more power.
But Caballero flashed his own pop Sunday, a home run off Justin Hagenman reminiscent of some of the power shows he puts on during batting practice.
“I can hit the ball hard,” Caballero said. “It’s not [always] showing in the game, so I’m trying to be more consistent with it.”