Jimmy Lambert is practicing social distancing – from 60 feet, 6 inches.

The former Fresno State right-hander, who had Tommy John surgery last June that cut short his season at Double-A Birmingham, is in Arizona with a handful of Chicago White Sox players and prospects on the 40-man roster rehabbing injuries. He works with the team’s trainers, plays catch, throws bullpens.

“We get in, get what we need and get out,” he said.

Many other former Bulldogs are in a similar holding pattern due to the coronavirus, waiting and wondering when they will get a chance to resume chasing their dream.

“It’s a weird situation right now,” said McCarthy Tatum, the Philadelphia Phillies’ 10th round draft pick last summer.

Opening day for full-season leagues including the Triple-A Pacific Coast League and Class-A Advanced California League was set for April 9 before COVID-19 wiped out most sports plans.

Tatum is back home in Clovis rather than in spring training in Clearwater, Fla.

“We sat around for two or three days, had a couple of meetings here and there while they were trying to figure out what’s going on,” he said. “The final verdict was, ‘We’re sending you guys home, your health is more important than baseball.’ So they sent us home and tried to keep us safe.

“It’s tough. We went three, four months training to get ready for spring training and play a full season, and we were there for a week and had to go home. It’s out of our hands, but we do what we can do.”

Working out at home

Those options can be limited.

Right-hander Edgar Gonzalez, who was a first-team All-Mountain West Conference selection and the St. Louis Cardinals’ sixth-round pick in the 2018 draft, has weight training equipment in his garage in the Bay Area.

He also has two younger brothers, Lisandro and Diego, to work out with.

Catcher Carter Bins, the Seattle Mariners’ 10th-round selection last year, also is home in the Bay Area and working out any way he can.

“Crazy,” he said. “My first spring training. I got down there (in Arizona) in January and was just getting ready. All the minor leaguers were showing up the week that we got sent home.

“We have an app on our phones that they can put workouts into and they’ve been good about sending out body-weight workouts that we can do on our own. A lot of guys I know are probably doing their own thing, based on what they have at their house. I have some stuff, but I’ve been doing a lot of makeshift weights with big water jugs or just finding anything that’s heavy and lifting, really.”

Bins is ahead of the game in one area, though. He has a friend, Davis Delorefice, who is a fourth-year junior at Washington and lives nearby. Delorefice has a batting cage, so Bins went out and invested in a pitching machine so that they could get some swings in.

“While social distancing, of course,” Bins said.

Staying in Arizona

Lambert, rated among the Top 20 prospects in the White Sox organization, is doing the same in Arizona as he continues to build arm strength.

“I’ve been throwing bullpens for about a month now,” said Lambert, who started 11 games at Double-A Birmingham before his injury including a 3-0 victory over Tennessee in which he allowed just one hit while striking out 10 in seven innings. “I’ll be throwing bullpens for six to eight more weeks and once the bullpens are over you’re basically ready to face hitters and once you face hitters, obviously, that’s what you do in the game, so you’re basically game-ready.”

Players in the minor leagues get paid only during the season, but Major League Baseball is at least extending a $400 allowance (equal to their spring training per diem) and medical benefits through the end of May, and the individual teams can offer additional support.

But for all of them, it’s a wait-and-see when the game returns.

“It’s tough,” Tatum said. “They call and check up on us, see how we’re doing. I guess we’re just on call right now, whenever MLB decides it’s safe for us to return.”