 you know walking into stadiums seeing the Yankee Stadium sign you know the whole building you know driving up to the field you know getting a step in the batter's box again you know and seeing all the boys it's been it's been great and really safe so it's been good. How is it stepping into that batter's box after not seeing live pitching for a while. Oh yeah it's fun when you get to baseball in the best pictures in baseball your first live since spring training but it felt good you know it's you know having that baseball TVs you know wearing cleats all the time taking ground balls you know hitting in the cages and stuff and getting back in that routine so it feels good though I can't you know I can't wait to play tonight you know with our first game so it'll be it'll be pretty fun. What is the anticipation like knowing that you're playing in an intrasquad game the first game that you've played since spring training the first time around. Yeah you know kind of when I think about it makes me think of like when I was in college you know we were ramping up we were playing against each other and it's the same thing you know you got a couple weeks to get things rolling but you know I mean the pitch has got to get ready we got to get ready and you know hopefully we can figure out some couple hits in there you know feel good about our confidence and but yeah obviously you know we want to get things rolling obviously because you know I think we're 17 days away so it's it's going to be quick but you know the boys have been working hard you know all through this we're ready to go. Typically how long does it take you how many at bats does it take you to feel comfortable at the plate and feel like you have that timing down. Well I mean this is different you know I would say like in spring training you want like 30 or 40 at bats you know obviously it's going to be hard to get with so many guys here so that's why the machine plays a big part in my role with my routine but I told our hitting coach I was like throw me out there as much as you want because I need to get as many at bats and you know try to build my confidence so I'll get my timing down so I'll take I'll take a hundred I'll take 25 whatever it takes but I'll be ready. You mentioned facing one of the best pitchers of the game and Garrett Cole your first time out there seeing live pitching do you think that's almost an advantage for you guys because when you look at the rotation and you look at the bullpen you have a lot of pitchers that are above average does that help you guys in getting ready facing the best right away. Yeah hell yeah it does it's nice to have those guys you know get us ready I mean he doesn't want to face the best pitchers in baseball to get yourself ready it might be a little frustrating but you know you know I think I got I backed off one auto sliders I was like man I forgot how good his stuff is but it's good to get back because I want to face the best stuff see the best stuff to prepare myself because you know at 60 games going to be quick so I want to be you know full blown seat ahead you know right when we step up you know on that first game you know July 23rd so. I spoke to Carlos Mendoza the other day and he mentioned you as one of the guys that stood out that he said right now you look really good would you agree with that statement. Well thank you but yeah I feel good yeah I've actually lost 13 pounds so quarantine was good to me I didn't put on 50 pounds like some people probably did but yeah I feel great I feel quicker lighter and yeah I'm just you know wanted to really really really work on my defense this you know this quarantine my first step and it's going to be a little quicker and I feel like it's really helped me out still got my power still feel good and you know obviously I'm all healed up from the surgery so everything's rocking and rolling and you know I feel really confident right now. How did you do that how did you slim down a little bit. Well my wife's a great cook so I get to get that and we just doing a lot of cardio working out five six days a week eating really really clean you know no snacking at night times you know trying to be good on the weekends too but yeah just a lot of you know just honestly eating really cleaning cardio honestly helped out a lot so still doing the workouts don't worry guys but yeah just a lot more cardio. Joked about stealing some bags this year is it going to be a reality now. I still don't have one so maybe maybe maybe I get one of course I'd get one in a 60 game season two right and I got 162 usually but hey give me a sign Booney. 60 games in 66 days does that at all change your approach. No my approach is still the same it's just you know I gotta be ready you know I I think one of the worst fears is guys you know showing up is you don't feel like you're ready or confident and you feel like you're behind and that's why I want to take that whole you know three months that we had off to be prepared and be ready for whenever that day was and you know we finally got it and I feel great so it's you know just getting as much work in every day as possible in these next you know three weeks is my biggest concern and you know being ready for that first game. Do you think there'll be a different feel overall knowing that this year is now a sprint not a marathon something we've never seen in baseball before. Yeah I you know it's going to be different I mean because some guys are going to you know kind of freak out you know usually get a couple you know you know weeks of maybe slump in but now it might be you know if you have a couple bad games some guy might you know take your spot you know so guys got to be ready and you know I mean these games matter it's going to be like playing games in August September it's important games because there's going to be teams that make the playoffs that you wouldn't have thought because you know they came out hot and they know when a couple extra games they should know so it'll it'll be interesting these first couple weeks of how the baseball part works out you know how guys are used you know starting rotations six man five man whatever and you know the how the utility guys will be used especially with the deation both leagues now too. What's been the message from Aaron Boone since everybody's been back at the stadium. Let's go time he knows how good we are in this locker room we've got a bunch of talented guys obviously safety is the biggest concern make sure you're you know staying away from you know as people as much as possible you know obviously you got to have the you know you got to go to the grocery store and stuff like that but you know just you know everybody needs to you know be responsible for each other and you know you know man up and if call guys out they're not doing that because we need to be healthy and you know if we lose a couple big time guys it'll you know really hurt us and you know when you stay to be safe wear a mask and you know obviously you know wash our hands as much as possible and you know stay away from you know crowded areas and stuff like that so. Do you anticipate that being a problem at all for members on that team self-policing and policing as a unit. No our team is unbelievable we got a lot of great leaders in our locker room and I think that is the last thing that'll happen is some guys on our team you know going out and doing some stupid stuff so. There have been some snags in the testing throughout Major League Baseball have you felt safe so far since arriving at Yankee Stadium can you kind of take me through the protocol you guys go through on a daily basis. Yeah I feel super safe and you know yeah so we show up we have to get our temperature taken every day and then every other day we're taking a saliva test which is you know you guys knew that and then you know there's plenty of signs all around telling us you know what we can and can't do we obviously wear a mask throughout the stadium outside of when we're on the field and you know in the weight room but yeah it's been really good the training staff has been really vocal and our coaches and you know we have we have an app that we can talk through about stuff going on that we need to do more or less of and they've done a really good job I know they got a lot on their hands so I salute them on a great job and you know I know they're going to do their best they can to keep us safe and you know credit to all the field and staff workers are getting ready because it looks great and it's nice being back out there taking ground balls again so it's good. What do you have most looking forward to when it comes to the 2020 season you know the best part about being back is being back with the boys but I'm ready to win I want to as much as people are saying this is going to be a corn you know our COVID championship you know what it's still championship and it's still going to be a three or four month grind of who can win it and why not winning it because this will be always the one that everybody remembers because it's just crazy time so our goal is to win number 28 and that's all we're looking forward to and you know I you know we we can't wait to get this thing going and everybody's healthy too so it's been it's been a better quarantine for us with you know getting the guys back to Luke thanks for the time and best of luck tonight