TAMPA — At 6-7, 282 kilos, Aaron Choose seems to be like a house run hitter.
The identical goes for Giancarlo Stanton, who stands at 6-6, 245 kilos.
However José Caballero?
Energy isn’t actually a part of the 5-10, 190-pound utility man’s recreation. But Caballero, acquired from the Rays on July 31, nonetheless matched Stanton and Cody Bellinger with two dwelling runs in Tuesday’s 13-3 win over his former workforce. The victory noticed the Yankees tie a franchise single-game file with 9 whole longballs at George M. Steinbrenner Area.
It was Caballero’s second blast, a solo homer off Mason Montgomery within the ninth inning, that tied the file. Afterward, Caballero joked that he’s picked up some energy pointers from Choose and Stanton, who mixed for 3 homers on Tuesday.
“Hanging out with those guys, something has to be contagious,” the petite Caballero, who additionally hit a brief porch, two-run homer off Shane Baz within the second inning, stated of his hulking teammates.
JOSE CABALLERO MULTI-HOMER GAME pic.twitter.com/O94h1d64IX
With Caballero matching his season whole for dwelling runs on Tuesday — he entered the sport with two earlier than launching his first jacks as a Yankee — his new workforce grew to become the primary membership in main league historical past to get pleasure from two nine-homer video games in a single season. It wasn’t that way back that the Yankees set their franchise file, as in addition they bashed the Brewers with 9 longballs again on March 29, the second recreation of the season.
“That’s why they are the Bronx Bombers,” Caballero stated with the Yankees main all of baseball with 204 homers.
Caballero is extra of a Pesky Pinstriper, although.
Now in his third main league season, the 28-year-old had simply 17 profession dingers in over 1,000 plate appearances after Tuesday’s contest, the primary multi-homer recreation of his profession. He’s higher identified for his velocity — he leads the majors with 39 stolen bases — and his versatility.
Caballero has already began at second, third, brief and proper by means of his first 11 video games with the Yankees. All of the whereas, he’s added an offensive spark, totaling a .364/.440/.682 slash line previous to Wednesday.
“He’s a real heady player,” Aaron Boone stated. “He performs the sport with quite a lot of confidence, and he brings just a few actually helpful issues to the desk. His potential to play the sport throughout the recreation, the flexibility to deal with the bat, clearly the working recreation. He’s actually good on the bases, after which he’s a extremely good defender at 4 or 5 completely different spots.
“He’s a winning player.”
Bellinger voiced an analogous endorsement, calling Caballero a “gamer” and insisting that he’s had a “huge impact” in his brief time with the Yankees.
“Really, really good energy, and just a really good baseball player,” Bellinger stated. “I mean, he does everything really well. He’s added a lot to this team, and it’s great to have him.”
Not too way back, such reward for Caballero would have been onerous to seek out within the Yankees’ clubhouse, as he’s additionally identified for irritating opponents.
That features Gerrit Cole, who infamously wagged his finger on the Mariners’ bench and fired a excessive, 0-2 fastball at Caballero again in June 2023 when the hitter performed for Seattle. Caballero, in search of any benefit he might discover, had been stepping out and in of the batter’s field all night time in an effort to mess with Cole’s timing as he labored towards the pitch clock.
Aided by his fast toes, Caballero has additionally messed with adversaries on the bases loads through the years.
“He needles the opponent a little bit, but he and I have had a good laugh,” Boone stated. “Now he’s turned into one of my favorite players.”
The Rays was the beneficiaries of that needling, which is why they performed a tribute video for Caballero on Tuesday night time, his first recreation towards his former employer since being traded. Minutes later, he burned them in atypical vogue, lofting his first homer of the night.
Caballero stated it was “special” to be enjoying towards his previous workforce, and that he was stunned by however appreciative of the video.
The Yankees, in the meantime, at the moment are grateful to have Caballero on their facet.
“He’s been a catalyst for us,” Boone stated.
Initially Printed: August 20, 2025 at 12:49 PM EDT
