Prince George baseball player Jared Young is like many athletes in limbo due to the coronavirus.
The Chicago Cubs prospect is in Arizona trying to stay in shape once play is safe to resume.
In his first season at the AA level, Young posted five home runs and 55 RBI’s with the Tennessee Smokies last year.
Young told MyPGNow.com his destination for the upcoming season was still being determined when the stoppage occurred.
“That hadn’t been decided yet. As everything got cancelled so early we only had about three or four days of minor league camp before we got cancelled so that’s up in there whether it’s Tennessee or Iowa.”
“It’s extremely difficult and interesting all at the same time one thing you just have to keep in mind is that everyone is going through the exact same thing so once things get rolling again you gotta take advantage of it.”
Young has an apartment in Scottsdale, just outside of Phoenix where he is currently living with a teammate.
“My roommate is a pitcher with the Cubs that I played with along the way at a couple of stops and we decided we were going to live together throughout the virus and stay down here so it’s nice to have him, it’s really good.”
While not being able to play or executing a regular workout plan has been strange, Young admits it hasn’t been all bad.
“I’m lucky enough to be in a really good spot down here (in Arizona) where I am able to hit a few days a week in just a little cage and being able to throw with my roommate and I am lucky enough to have a little bit more access to stuff like that then some people who are up in the cold or don’t have the facilities but it is so strange.”
As for how the season could proceed, there have been plenty of discussions but no concrete answers.
“We’ve has so many talks with coaches and different front office people trying to get the exact same answers as you and honestly, all we have gotten is I don’t know and we’ll find out soon.”
If Major League Baseball does decide to go on with their season or it gets cancelled entirely due to the virus, another question that’s been brought up is what does the trickle-down effect look like for the minor leagues when it comes to salary.
Young states there are a lot of balls up in the air.
“We’ve had some zoom calls and with front office people and a lot of minor leaguers and that gets brought up a ton and even asking things like does this count as part of our minor league contract and the answer is we don’t know yet, we’ll figure it out in due time. My guess is that if there is baseball played then it will count as a year but if there is no baseball played where do we go from there.”
Before all on-field activities were suspended, Young appeared in spring training with the Cubs for the second consecutive year.
The 24-year-old thinks his game was rounding into form.
“I was enjoying it, I felt not quite game ready but in a good spot. I was able to get into a few big-league games like six or seven, I was able to get some hits and produce so I could show my name at the biggest stage.”
