LAKELAND, Fla. — Through two minor league games, Alex Rodriguez has yet to get a ball out of the infield.
Cue the jokes.
Rodriguez is in playoff form. He’ll fit in perfectly with the Yankees’ anemic lineup. He’s ready for The Bronx.
Only, it’s been just four at-bats for the slugger.
“Four at-bats, nine months, I’d like to get at least 25 at-bats before I ever start thinking about timing,” he said Friday in Lakeland, Fla., after his third scheduled rehabilitation game with Single-A Tampa was rained out. “It’s just good to see the ball and put the ball in play.”
“It’s gonna take me a half dozen games or so, 10 games, to get better feedback of how things are going,” said Rodriguez, who has yet to play with the Yankees after offseason left hip surgery and has been linked through published reports to a Florida anti-aging clinic that allegedly distributed performance-enhancing drugs to major league players. “But so far, so good.”
After playing in back-to-back games with Single-A Charleston, Rodriguez will have a two-day layoff before tonight’s game with Single-A Tampa at Brevard County, the Single-A affiliate of the Brewers. Rodriguez worked out in Charleston on Thursday and took batting practice and simulated at-bats at Lakeland after the scheduled doubleheader was postponed because of rain.
“We made the most out of it,” Rodriguez said. “We had six simulated at-bats, did some good work.”
Rodriguez said his body feels fine, aside from the usual soreness, and is looking forward to getting more at-bats under his belt. In the two games in Charleston, he struck out once and grounded out three times, playing three innings in each contest. But he loved the overall experience, if not the on-field results.
“For me, it was great to be under the lights again, playing baseball,” Rodriguez said. “It’s been nine months for me, it’s been a long time. The great town of [Charleston] it just felt great [to be there], great energy, great fans. Just pretty exciting to be out playing baseball. It’s what I love to do.”
He is expected to play five innings tonight in Viera, Fla., and get three at-bats. His body is still adjusting to playing games after such a long layoff.
“No matter what kind of shape you are in, baseball shape is completely different,” he said. “I don’t care how hard you work in the offseason, when you get in cleats are in spring training, you have soreness you never felt before. It’s a different type of conditioning. Baseball is an endurance game, an everyday game. You got to get your legs under you, make sure you get ready for the long haul.”
Rodriguez said he “hopes” the return of established stars such as himself, Derek Jeter and Curtis Granderson could give the Yankees the needed boost to return to the playoffs. He is confident after wiping away the rust, he can find his superstar form.
“I do,” he said.
But nothing that happens at the major league level — whether the Yankees can build off their current three-game winning streak entering tonight’s three-game series with the Orioles or begin to stumble again — will alter his current plans.
“Nothing changes,” he said. “For us it’s business as usual. We all have a schedule, we all want to rush to get back as soon as we can, but we have to be smart.”
zbraziller@nypost.com