TAMPA, Fla. -- Prior to several games this spring, Aaron Boone could be spotted with a glove on his left hand along the first-base line at George M. Steinbrenner Field, airing his arm out and playing catch with one of his coaches. The Yankees manager never would have imagined that he would be regularly called upon two months later as a backyard throwing partner.

With baseball on hold and Boone at home with his family in Greenwich, Conn., he has been frequently participating in workouts with Yankees hurlers Gerrit Cole and Adam Ottavino, who live in the area. Though Boone and the Yanks’ players have remained in contact via text messages and video chats, the simple act of tossing a ball has provided a shred of normalcy in this unprecedented time.

“We've been doing bullpens over at Otto's once or twice a week, and I've become Gerrit's throw partner,” Boone said Tuesday on MLB Network Radio on SiriusXM. “With Gerrit, I think one of the cool things for me has been it's given me a chance to get to know him a little bit better, just in the conversations that you strike up and have as you're playing a good old game of catch. It's been something that's been a lot of fun for me and rewarding, and hopefully something that helps us build a foundation in our relationship here moving forward.”

Boone added that he occasionally grabs a bat to stand in against Cole and Ottavino, studying the movement of their pitches from a vantage point that most big league managers rarely have the opportunity to observe. Boone, an infielder during his playing days, said that he has no desire to strap on the catching gear for his pitchers. Those tasks are being left to bullpen catcher Radley Haddad, who has been summoned when necessary.

“We have Radley, who has a lot to do with our game planning. He comes up for the bullpens,” Boone said. “I actually stand in though, so I’ve been standing in the box and looking at obviously some dynamic stuff when you're talking about Otto and Gerrit -- but not catching them. I'm not prepared for that.”

Injury updates
Boone has frequently said that one of the silver linings of baseball’s delay is that the Yankees should be at full strength when the sport resumes. He shared updates on several of the club’s rehabbing players:

Aaron Hicks (recovery from Tommy John surgery): “He's doing really well. He's already doing soft toss from both sides of the plate and throwing out to 90-plus feet [in Arizona]. So he's trending in a really good direction.”

Aaron Judge (fractured right rib): “He's due for another CT scan, I believe, in a couple more weeks. So this down time has allowed that rib, that bone, to hopefully continue to heal. All signs are encouraging there, and hopefully this time down allows that rib to heal properly and hopefully have him part of all this as well.”

James Paxton (recovery from back surgery): “[Paxton] is going to be probably ready in about mid-May. He’s on that timeline. He's already thrown five or six bullpens, but I think he actually threw a sim game yesterday to a couple guys where he is [in Wisconsin], so his rehab has gone really, really well.”

Giancarlo Stanton (strained right calf): “Giancarlo wasn't going to be able to start the season on time with us. He's doing really well and should be good to go whenever we get ready to go back.”

Judge, Stanton and right-hander Luis Severino have continued their respective rehabs at the Steinbrenner Field complex in Tampa, Fla.

‘Staying in the athletic position’
Even without games, Boone said that he and the Yankees have been productive during this time. The coaching staff and members of the front office recently completed a three-week program of player evaluations via Zoom, during which they recapped individual objectives for the 2020 season, and the club has been keeping lines of communication open with players as they follow their training routines at home.

Boone said that the Yankees have not put too much energy into the speculation of where, when and how the season will resume, instead focusing on ways to ensure they will be ready when it does.

“The biggest thing is trying to make sure our players are doing well, keeping tabs on them, trying to support them where we can so that when the bell rings and we go back to a spring scenario, wherever that may be, that they're in the best position to kind of hit the ground running,” Boone said. “We’re staying in the athletic position for whatever plan comes our way, and we'll be in a position to handle it. Obviously, it's going to be a unique circumstance. There's going to be adversity along the way, and we need to be prepared to handle it and be part of the recovery.”