Yankees optimistic Judge, Paxton, Hicks, Stanton will all be healthy

NEW YORK — Given an extra 31⁄2 months for their brittle stars to heal, the New York Yankees will closely monitor the conditioning of Aaron Judge, James Paxton, Aaron Hicks and Giancarlo Stanton ahead of a season unlike any other.

“We want these players to withstand a 60-game sprint over a 66-day schedule,” Yankees general manager Brian Cashman said Tuesday on the eve of the first arrivals for “spring” training 2.0, already dubbed summer camp in Major League Baseball’s marketing deal.

New York had been set to open March 26 at Baltimore with many of its key cogs on the injured list but expects all of them to be available when training resumes this weekend.

Sound familiar?

New York placed a big league record 30 players on the injured list a total of 39 times last season, then overhauled its training and conditioning staff.

“Ultimately, we’re in it to win it,” Cashman said, “and I think everybody else should be feeling the same way. And especially in a shortened season, I think it heightens the ability for anybody to really take a shot at the title. And so, therefore, how do they respond to this challenge remains to be seen, but I think it’s certainly going to open it up for a lot of opportunities for teams to take advantage of.“

Because of the coronavirus pandemic, the Yankees are to play their rescheduled opener at World Series champion Washington on July 23 in what could be a matchup of new Yankees ace Gerrit Cole and Max Scherzer, who helped the Nationals beat Cole’s Houston Astros in World Series Game 7 last fall.

New York is slated to go to Philadelphia before its home homer against the Phillies on July 29, according to information obtained by The Associated Press.