The New York Yankees have started to report to Yankee Stadium to begin intake testing ahead of MLB's Summer Camp, and manager Aaron Boone expects Saturday to be the first time he will be able to have the team's entire player pool work out on the field.
During a media conference call Wednesday, Boone confirmed that he and the staff have had contact with the entire team during the COVID-19 shutdown – from one end with Gerrit Cole, whom Boone is neighbors with in Connecticut, to Masahiro Tanaka, who was literally on an island after returning home to Japan – and when it comes to those starting pitchers, who are vitally important to the team, Boone feels they'll be ready to hit the ground running this weekend.
"We've been able to log what our guys have been able to do in quarantine, so I feel like we have a pretty good understanding of where they are. We'll have to see it with our own eyes, but I feel like most of our guys will be able to face live hitters from jump street and we'll see where it goes from there," Boone said. "We won't push anyone to a certain amount right way well build them up safely and best we can, to a point where they're in a good spot to begin the regular season."
Teams will be certainly be trying a lot of different things as the navigate a 60-game sprint instead of a 162-game marathon, from using an extended bench more often to trying six-man rotations or other unusual pitching combinations. Boone is noncommittal on the latter – "we'll be as creative as we have to be, but we're not necessarily planning anything specific," he said – and cognizant of the former, but to him, the key to success this season is going to patience amidst flux.
"Just by math, obviously the games mean more, that's a reality. That said, I still think patience, especially at the outset of the season…you can get in a lot of trouble if you force the issue with guys and push them where they're not ready to go early in the season," Boone said. "We know we have a lot of really good players, a lot of guys who are capable of being everyday players who just won't be that if we get through this healthy. But as long as we are healthy, we're going to lean on our depth and hopefully build guys up properly, so we don't have to sacrifice early on but also give ourselves the chance to be strong for the long haul."
For that reason, Boone doesn't anticipate doing anything "different" in this Summer Camp than he would in a normal Spring Training, as players are also always going to be at different levels of readiness at the end of that preseason, too.
"The bottom line is we're going to try to make evaluations on an individual basis on where we think guys are physically. You really have to exercise some patience, and make some really good evaluations about the workload players are capable of," Boone said," but our goal from the start of the first spring training hasn't changed. We're still a very hungry group with unfinished business and we want to climb to the top, but even though circumstances have changed, the goal hasn't changed."
Nor, he says, have the expectations, although the path to realizing them certainly has, and will continue to, as the next few months go on.
"Hopefully it serves us well. Baseball is designed to play 162, but all 30 teams are starting at the same point, and the bottom line is that the goal and focus do not change, but we only have 60 games to go out and prove how good a club we are," the skipper said. "As much as there's urgency in a short season, an injury can wipe out a season in a hurry if you're forcing a guy into more than he's ready for, so we'll have to lean on our depth as much as we can."
The Yankees were one of the favorites to make the postseason in a 162-game world, and are still favorites among most odds and metrics to do so in a 60-game season. More teams than normal will join them if they do, but as the sprint goes on, Boone isn't sure exactly what might separate the contenders from the pretenders at any given time, wondering if perhaps it's more mental than physical.
"I do think there will need to be extra mental toughness there; a 162-game season always brings adversity, and you have to be able to navigate the daily ups and downs to be successful, and you can add another layer to that this year," Boone said. "This will be challenging on many levels – playing with no fans, dealing with daily protocols, and a new normal you're not used to. How you deal with that mentally, and how you're able to separate that out as you take the field…there's an edge to be gained there for the teams that handle that the best. Hopefully we will do a good job of that."
Hopefully, because again, it's a unique situation that all 30 teams are in. Still, Boone remains optimistic as always about the chances of the 2020 Yankees.
"One of the separators this year is going to be the teams that can find the focus, energy, and edge on a daily basis to navigate challenging circumstances. I feel confident we have a group that can do that," Boone said. "I think we're a very balanced, well-rounded club with a lot of potential, and I'll take that in any scenario. I'll take our guys against anyone, their makeup and preparation. We did have a few weeks of spring training, and I feel like a vast majority of our guys were able to get in steady, quality work to keep the motor going. I'm going to bet on our guys."
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