Yankees' Jose Caballero is a man of great defensive versatility and many gloves

You’ve heard of a person who wears many hats? Jose Caballero wears many gloves.

Sitting on the top shelf of his locker in the Yankees’ clubhouse Friday was the one he’s been using all season to play shortstop, where he’s been stationed while Anthony Volpe has been in the minors completing his recovery from offseason shoulder surgery. Less obvious and further below that one, there are four other gloves, each more-or-less tailored for any of the seven positions he’s played on the diamond during his four seasons in the majors.

Caballero doesn’t consider himself a collector, but he has a collection because when your biggest calling card is your versatility, you have to be ready for anything.

“I have five gloves, but I always carry four,” he told Newsday before Friday’s win over the Orioles at the Stadium. “There’s two I have for the infield and two I use in the outfield so I can do [whatever] I am asked.”

The Yankees acquired Caballero from Tampa Bay last July 31 at the MLB trading deadline. He played in 40 games the rest of the regular season and appeared at second base, third base, shortstop, rightfield and leftfield. In his 86 games before the trade, he appeared at every position except first base and catcher for the Rays, even pitching an inning.

Asked about the Yankees’ thinking at the time they traded for him, manager Aaron Boone said Saturday, “I think we viewed him as valuable [defensively] in a lot of spots — that was one of the intrigues. There was just the position flexibility and the quality of that legitimate defense. Legitimately ‘go play the outfield’ and he plays it well.”

The gloves he has to play around the infield are all slightly different. He said the one he has used at second base is the smallest and the one he uses at shortstop is only slightly larger; glove manufacturers describe the models they make for middle infielders as specifically designed for getting the ball out quickly for double plays.

“The third-base glove is a little [deeper], but I don’t use it anymore,” Caballero said. “I’ve started using the same glove at shortstop and third base just because I like it.”

During his two seasons with the Mets in 2005 and 2006, Chris Woodward played every position except pitcher and catcher and used seven different gloves. In a 2006 interview with The New York Times, he said he preferred to use a glove with a deeper pocket when playing third base because there was less time to react to the spin of a ball off the bat.

Both of Caballero’s outfield gloves are the same model. The extra is kept on hand if there is an issue with the one he regularly uses.

Cody Bellinger plays all three outfield positions and uses only one glove. The nuance for him was about a glove’s pocket.

“I tried a bunch with different webbing until I found one I liked,” said Bellinger, who also can play first base. “Once I found one that I liked, I just stuck with it . . . There’s really been no reason to make a change — I’ve been using the same glove for five seasons.”

Virtually every major-leaguer has an agreement to wear a particular manufacturer’s brand. Those relationships usually are formed early in a career when company representatives showcase their models for players to try. All of Caballero’s gloves are part of his agreement with Rawlings. Bellinger also uses Rawlings and said his relationship with the manufacturer “started while I was in the minor leagues.”

Before his current agreement with Rawlings, Caballero tried other brands and other models.

“I have used almost everything — I used 44Pro and I used Wilson — before my agreement,” he said. “Gloves are important and you like what you like. I like Rawlings’ leather and feel more comfortable in it.”

Stories about players and their gloves are myriad. One notable one is about Cookie Rojas, who played every position during a 16-season career that ended in 1977. He reportedly used the same glove at every single position — including catcher — and donated it to the Baseball Hall of Fame when he retired.

Caballero said the only hard decision he had to make about which glove to use was when the Rays called upon him last season to pitch the final inning of a June blowout loss to the Orioles.

“I decided to use the second-base glove, just because it was smallest and lightest,” he said.

Caballero is going to keep using his shortstop’s glove until the Yankees decide he needs to break into the rest of his collection. The 20-day clock on Volpe’s minor-league rehab assignment expired Sunday and the Yankees announced that he is being optioned to Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre.

The way Caballero has used his glove — in addition to hitting .333 with three home runs and seven stolen bases in his last 17 games — clearly influenced the organization’s decision on Volpe. Entering play Sunday, Caballero led all shortstops in the metric Defensive Runs Saved.

As Boone said Saturday, “He’s playing as good as any shortstop in the big leagues right now defensively.”  

By Roger Rubin

roger.rubin@newsday.com@rogrubin

Roger Rubin returned to Newsday in 2018 to write about high schools, colleges and baseball following 20 years at the Daily News. A Baseball Hall of Fame voter since 2011, he has covered 13 MLB postseasons and 14 NCAA Final Fours.