TAMPA — The routine for Aroldis Chapman was the same most every day. Drive one of his four cars — a Range Rover, a Rolls-Royce, a Lamborghini or a Porsche — to the Yankees’ squat, cinder-block minor league complex around 9 a.m., do some running, weight lifting, conditioning and throwing. Chat in Spanish with some of the other players, almost all of them teenagers, and several times a week pitch in early-afternoon games against other teams’ youngest prospects, who were awaiting the start of rookie leagues and low Class A ball next month.
There might be no more than a handful of fans at these extended spring training games, which are open to the public at no charge.