Opening Day for the Yankees in 2020 was originally scheduled for March 26 in Baltimore.

On Thursday, 119 days after that original date, the Yankees will finally take the field for a regular season game, as they’ll play against the defending champion Washington Nationals in Washington, D.C.

After everything that’s gone on in the world amid the coronavirus pandemic, Yankees All-Star right fielder Aaron Judge can feel how close it is to baseball’s official return.

“We can almost taste it. We’re about to get the appetizer. I feel like this is the appetizer right now before the main course,” Judge said on Tuesday. “We’re all excited here. It’s been a long road, long journey to get here to Opening Day, but I know our team’s ready.

“It’s been a crazy year, affected a lot of people, a lot of families, and I’m just excited to get back on the field and start playing the game that I love and hopefully bring some positivity in this world with a lot of negativity going on.”

The Yankees have been back in summer camp for a couple of weeks now, working out at Yankee Stadium and even playing exhibition games against the Mets and Philadelphia Phillies. All the while, the seats have been empty.

By all accounts, it’s been and will continue to be a very different atmosphere for baseball in 2020, but Judge knows players will adapt to the changing surroundings.

“It’s been different, definitely different,” Judge said. “I know they’ve got the crowd noise and they’re trying to add that in there, but it’s not the same as a packed-out Yankee Stadium for a Mets-Yankees game or even being at Citi Field for a Mets-Yankees game, or even when the Phillies come with the atmosphere we’ve got. So it’s a little different, but it’s still competition. We’re still out there ready to compete. I don’t think the outside noise or things are going to change the competition and type of play we’ve got.

“I miss (the fans), but I can’t wait to have them back.”

During summer camp, the Yankees have been pretty much confined to their home ballpark, aside from a quick visit across town to Citi Field. But that will change this week, as they get set to take a train down to Washington and experience their first taste of travel as a team in 2020.

“It is going to be a little leery I guess, getting on a train, traveling to a different city. We’ve kind of been in our own little bubble here in New York, our own little bubble in Tampa, so I think kind of leaving that bubble is going to be a little bit difficult, but this is what we signed up for,” said Judge. “We wouldn’t have signed up for this if we weren’t aware of the risk and what we’re going to have to face the next few months.

“But the Yankees have prepared us well. They’ve given us the dos and don’ts, what to do, so I think as a team and an organization, we’re going to do our best to keep everybody safe, and I think we’re going to be alright.”

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