While Major League Baseball struggles with its lockout, Bellville alum and New York Yankees pitcher Lucas Luetge has been taking advantage of more time at home while balancing his training.

March 1, MLB Commissioner Robert Manfred announced that due to an owners’ lockout of the players and a failure to agree on a collective bargaining agreement, the first series of the season was canceled for all teams. Even though he said he’d of course rather be at spring training by now, he’s been catching up on family time that normally doesn’t happen the third month of the year.

“At this point, I'm here in Bellville, there's not much I can do about it so I really don't focus on it or pay much attention to it. I obviously want to go to work and do my job but it's out of my control,” Luetge said in a March 3 interview. “I'll take advantage for what it is, I get to spend time at home with the kids and then I've been going to high school working out those guys and getting to do things I haven't gotten to in a long time.”

He said earlier in this purgatory, he scoured Twitter for negotiation leaks until he was advised by the Yankees’ player union rep not to believe everything they see on social media.

“This past Monday, I was getting ready to pack my bags and then the next day – we have a team group message – the guys who've been in the meetings were like, ‘Don't listen to Twitter because we're nowhere close,’” Luetge said.

As negotiations continue, Luetge has been putting in the work at a facility in Tomball, Rice University’s pitching lab and the Brahmas’ home field to stay around the game.

“All the big leaguers are still here so we have guys with the Phillies, Tigers, Pittsburgh, Reds; it's kind of everywhere. I went to throw a bullpen at Rice the other day and I ran into (Alex) Bregman a couple guys that are our rivals,” Luetge said. “There were probably six guys in the big leagues at Rice the other day and I was the only one who actually went to Rice. Every college and school are just accepting whoever's here because you want your players to see what these guys do for training to kind of mimic them.”

He's carried that same mentality over to the Bellville High School baseball diamond although he said he tries to just be one of the guys in red and white there.

“I just try to talk about video games, Fortnite, whatever they're into and then usually, once you get them to open up, that's when the question start, ‘We were talking about preparation, what we do now? What do we do before the game?’” Luetge recounted. “When they throw bullpens I'm there to watch and give my advice, but man, I want them to do their thing and have fun. High school is the last time you're playing with your friends who you grew up with your whole life.”

Despite New York’s size, Luetge said he’s relished in the time spent sharing the state with his high school classmate and Buffalo Bills wide receiver Emmanuel Sanders.

“We talk quite a bit, he got to come to a couple of games this year so we got to see him there. As big of a city it is, we ran into at each other at a Brooklyn Nets game,” he said. “We're both so proud of each other; grew up together, graduated together, he was in my wedding. This is a unique situation for both of us to make it to the highest level so I think we've each been the biggest fans of each other.”

Luetge said he hopes Sanders can resume his Yankees fandom soon and once the pinstripes are on the field again, his sights are set on producing results similar to last year’s which catapulted and kept him in the Majors.

“My goal is to repeat what I did last year. I had probably one of my best statistical years of my career so personally, it's just repeating that,” Luetge said. “As a team, the whole season all we heard about was how bad we were. And I think we had ninety-two wins at the end of it so for being bad all season, that was pretty good. So, if we're decent, I don't see why we can't be around the hundred-win mark.”

Some of New York’s wins last year came over Lutege’s hometown team but it was the July 9 game where he earned the victory on the hill that served as an extra special W.

“It's the one time all my friends and family get to actually come and see me play. Historically, I've done pretty good pitching in Houston, I think there’s a little extra motivation,” he said. “This year it was a little more fun because everybody from here hates the Yankees; they're all huge Astros fans and the Yankees are the devil. I ended up getting the win in Houston so I had a little extra joy in that for them to have to cheer for me and break their hearts at the same time.”