Like Major Leaguers everywhere, Cincinnati Reds utility player Kyle Farmer has a lot of extra time on his hands.

With sports everywhere on hiatus due to the ongoing coronavirus pandemic, the former Georgia Bulldog has been searching for ways to not only occupy his time, but to stay in as best shape as possible for when play ultimately does resume.

For Farmer, this means holding up with his wife at her family’s home in Valdosta, where along with getting in a little turkey hunting, he has taken an unusual step to help pass the time.

“I bought a pitch-back that I haven’t had since about 10. I’m throwing at it out in a field … next to a pig,” Farmer said in a telephone interview with UGASports. “I’m just trying to find ways to stay busy.”

Farmer, who is entering his second season with the Reds, hopes the wait won’t be that much longer.

The last time Farmer recalls having this much free time in April was during his senior year at Marist High, just prior to arriving at Georgia where he starred with the Bulldogs for four seasons.

That was 11 years ago.

“It’s uncharted territory. I don’t remember what I was like when I was 18, I wish I did. But it’s an eerie feeling; it really is,” Farmer said. “You don’t know whether to start working out again, go through your season routine … it’s just really an awkward stage in time right now. It sucks for everybody who is playing the game.”

That includes his former team at Georgia.

Farmer was a 35th-round pick by the New York Yankees in 2012 when he elected to return for his senior year at UGA. He couldn’t imagine being in the position of Bulldog seniors like shortstop Cam Shepherd, who returned for one final season after being taken in the 20th round last year by Tampa Bay.

“I can’t put it into … but that would just suck. I’d be emotionally wrecked. You’re losing all that time with your friends; it’s gone. It’s swept away from you and nothing you can do,” Farmer said. “That’s the thing. If there was something you could do about it you could feel sorry for yourself. But here, there’s nothing you can do and it’s like the season never happened.”

Farmer is hoping and praying Major League baseball doesn’t suffer the same fate.

MLB has tinkered with several potential ideas, including one where after a three-week resumption of spring training, all 30 teams would be based out of Phoenix area where games would be played in empty ball parks.

“There’s two different conversations going on right now. One is with your teammates and stuff like that. We have a group text and this whole Arizona thing, and what-not, it’s still up in the air; MLB is still talking about it,” Farmer said. “But some guys are saying they don’t want to be away from their families for four months; some guys are saying if it’s the only way to make money then we’ll do it. As players, we have to stick together, stick to our guns, not separate from each other and come to a common agreement of what we need to do.”

Count Farmer as someone who hopes teams are back on the field sooner rather than later.

“MLB should take into consideration to play because if they’re the first sport back playing, then they’re going to gain a lot of fans,” Farmer said. “You look at 9/11. When the Mets played the Braves that was a big, big thing for the country to see, that sports were actually going to come back and play, and we were going to stay strong.

“I think that’s what happens right now. If baseball comes back, the game, people are going to watch. They need sports, and if baseball doesn’t play this year, we’re going to lose a lot of fans and hurt the game a lot. So, I think if any way possible, to get this season going they need to do it.”

Farmer doesn’t believe it would take players that long to get ready. A three-week “spring training,” he said, should be enough.

“Spring training is so long, it’s for the pitchers. Position players will be ready after like two weeks. But I think they’re going to give us like a three-week span that we have to find a way to get ready. That’s where things like expanding the rosters come into play, stuff like that. Me, personally, I think position players need two weeks to get back in the groove of things,” he said. “I can’t speak for the pitchers but as long as they’ve been throwing and keeping up with their bullpens and stuff then it shouldn’t take them too long, either.”

Farmer’s first year with the Reds following an off-season trade with Los Angeles certainly suited him well.

After playing in just 59 games his two seasons with the Dodgers, Farmer played in 97 last year with the Reds, batting .230 with nine home runs and 27 RBI.

While the average wasn’t quite what he desired, his versatility proved to be a huge boon for the Reds. Farmer - along with catching - saw action at first, second, shortstop and third base. He also got to pitch during a 12-5 loss to Cubs, going a scoreless 1.1 innings, including getting off-season workout buddy Jayson Heyward to ground out to second to end the eighth after a bevy of slow curveballs that did not even register on the radar gun.

"Last year I told myself I wanted to be the best bench player I can be, play multiple positions. I came close to being one of the better ones in the league so hopefully I can come back and do that again,” said Farmer, who gets a kick out of the fact people remain surprised that he can play shortstop at all.

Before COVID-19 shut down the game, Farmer was seeing extensive action at the position and was fielding the position quite well, apparently to the surprise of many watching him for the first time.

“I had been labeled a catcher,” said Farmer, who started at short his entire four years at Georgia. “But I’ve played shortstop my whole life and people were amazed that I was making these plays and I’m like, 'That’s a routine play.' Still, there were people who were like I can’t believe a catcher made that play. Look, I’m not a catcher playing shortstop I’m a shortstop-catcher.”

Last year also saw Farmer hit the first of his nine career home runs, a two-run shot last April 6 at Pittsburgh off former Team USA teammate Trevor Williams to snap a 30-inning scoreless streak for the Reds.

Although Cincinnati went on to lose the game 6-5, it was a moment Farmer won’t soon forget.

“You always think when something happens to you, really good, you think about memories, your past and stuff. I just thought about my dad,” Farmer said. “I hit my first home run when I was 11, in an all-star game, and I could see him smiling and that brought back that memory.”

Hopefully, there will be more to come.

In the meantime, Farmer will continue to bide his time, do what he can to stay in shape while continuing to take advantage of turkey season while it’s still in session.

“I’m learning that I really do like the woods,” Farmer said. “I’m not as much of a city slicker as I think I am.”