The Yankees super secret hint to a successful camp? Sleeping in

(AP Images) “The early bird gets the worm.” Or, as they say in baseball, “the early infielder gets the ground ball.” OK, fine, they don’t actually say that. And it’s not a phrase that’s going to catch on any time soon, especially with the New York Yankees.

[2016 Yahoo Fantasy Baseball is open for business. Sign up now]

That’s because manager Joe Girardi is encouraging players to sleep in later than usual this spring. Instead of starting camp just after the sun comes up, the Yankees begin each day at 11:30 a.m, according to the Jared Diamond of the Wall Street Journal.

There’s reasoning behind that decision too. Girardi wants his players to get a good night’s rest.

I said, ‘We start at 11:30. Don’t think if I see you here at 7:30 that I’m going to be impressed,'” Girardi said in an interview in his office at George M. Steinbrenner Field on Monday. ‘”It’s not going to impress me. Sleep! I’m giving you an opportunity to sleep. Sleep!’ That was one of the first things I told them in camp.”

And with that, thousands of 13 to 22 year olds suddenly became Yankees fans. Team beat writers rejoiced, and Alex Rodriguez finally let himself watch “Conan” live.

The Yankees have already come under fire for some of their new camp policies this spring. The team recently was caught lifting a motivation quote from Crossfit, and encouraging players to be more like Russell Wilson than Cam Newton.

And while some people might prefer ball players get up and complete their work early, this policy is pretty harmless. There’s no reason to think it will negatively impact players on the club, and if guys need to come in early to put in extra work, that’s still on the table.

[Elsewhere: Dave Dombrowski isn’t worried about Pablo Sandoval’s weight]

Will it lead to more wins in the regular season? Probably not. Will it make every player a little more thankful Girardi is in charge? Probably. Given the rigorous schedule the players are about to undergo over the next eight months or so, banking some extra sleep now can’t be a bad thing.

More MLB coverage from Yahoo Sports: