Cody Bellinger gives update on back issues sidelining him at Yankees camp

TAMPA — Cody Bellinger knows the deal by now.

The Yankees veteran’s back issues have become almost an annual rite of passage around this time on the calendar, which gives him assurance that he will be back on the field soon.

For now, Bellinger is sidelined after his back tightened up on him Friday, keeping him out of games this weekend. The Yankees have an off day on Monday, but Bellinger is expecting to hit live batting practice on Tuesday and then return to game action by Wednesday or Thursday.

“It’s honestly very mild,” Bellinger said Sunday morning at Steinbrenner Field. “Just ramping up activity and it just tightened up on me a little bit. Really nothing serious. Where we’re at on the schedule and not even being March yet (when it happened), take a few days, get right and then I think by the time I get back into games, I’ll still be able to have plenty of at-bats to get ready for the season.”

Bellinger had played in three exhibitions before the back issues came on. It is the same thing he dealt with last April during the regular season, when he missed two games before getting back on the field.

The 30-year-old outfielder, who re-signed with the Yankees on a five-year, $162.5 million contract, said he knows what kind of treatment he needs to get his back right.

“Very knowledgeable of that process,” he said with a wry grin. “But even today, feeling really good.”