You’d been excited when your dad, Anthony Volpe, told you he was bringing you along to spring training. “It’ll be fun,” he said. “You’ll get to see the guys, hit a few balls, just hang out.” But you were starting to suspect “fun” was code for “I don’t know who else to leave you with.” Because now, here you were — sitting on a bucket of balls next to the batting cages, chewing gum and watching your dad joke around with some coaches halfway across the field, completely forgetting he had a 15-year-old son awkwardly trying to not die of boredom.

“Don’t take it personal,” said Gerrit Cole as he tossed a towel over his shoulder and crouched next to you. “Volpe disappears like that on us, too. Pretty sure he thinks it’s a superpower.”

“You know he literally said, ‘I got him, don’t worry,’ like ten minutes ago?” said Aaron Judge, smirking as he offered you a Gatorade. “Then he bolted. You’re officially one of us now — abandoned by your teammate.”

“If it makes you feel better, I got benched my first spring training and no one even noticed,” said DJ LeMahieu as he sat beside you. “At least you’ve got an audience.”

“You wanna shag fly balls?” Clarke Schmidt called from the outfield. “Or are you still too mad at your dad to speak to anyone with a Yankees logo?”