This coronavirus-affected 2020 MLB season can be described as a sprint and not a marathon.

That works for Luke Maile. The new Pittsburgh Pirates catcher describes himself as “the anti-marathoner.”

“That will never, ever happen,” Maile said of running a marathon. “People say, ‘You never say never,’ but I can tell you right now, I can say never about this. I will never run a marathon.”

Maile was asked about 26.2-mile distance runs because his wife, Paige, completed the New York City Marathon on Nov. 1, 2015. That was two months to the day after her husband’s major-league debut.

Luke Maile has carved himself out a lengthy MLB career in the time that’s passed since. The start of his sixth MLB season — assuming it indeed begins — will be his first for the Pirates. Expected to be the top backup to Jacob Stallings, Maile’s career arc thus far has looked like the prototypical strong-defense, light-hitting backup catcher.

Maile has a career .198 average and hit .151 for the Toronto Blue Jays last season. But during the admittedly small sample size and unique conditions of intrasquad work since Pirates summer camp opened last week, Maile said he has found the swing that had made him a semifinalist for awards as the top college baseball player in the country in 2012 at Kentucky.

“I haven’t felt this good in a long time,” Maile said Sunday during a video conference call with media. “It’s obviously early, but I’m pretty encouraged with the way I’m swinging the bat right now.”

Maile homered off live pitching at PNC Park on Friday. Yes, it was an intrasquad affair in which the interpretation of rules governing substitution, lineup configuration and the like were adhered to loosely. But the shot into left-center was no joke, traveling more than 400 feet into the bullpens.

“If you’re out there, you might as well try to win, right?” Maile said, resisting any sheepishness associated with accomplishments during an intrasquad game. “That’s the way I looked at it. We took the lead, and I was able to find a barrel.”

The swing was just a tangible indication of Maile’s assertion that he’s finding a groove offensively heading into a season that is scheduled to begin July 24. Because he makes his home in Palm Harbor, Fla., it was only an hour’s drive for Maile to Pirate City in Bradenton, where he was able to get some work in a couple times a week during the coronavirus break — even if he can’t explain exactly what is clicking.

“I just feel like myself,” Maile said. “I really don’t have a great explanation. I’m not a huge mechanical guy. I feel like my legs are more involved. I feel like when my legs are involved, I’m a little shorter to the ball. Very basic stuff.

“It’s nothing that’s really going to be that exciting in terms of X, Y and Z. But I just feel like I have a swing that I remember doing when I was 5, 6, 7, 8 years old. I think that’s probably the best way I can describe it.”

The Pirates would certainly appreciate if Maile brought improved offense to the lineup in 2020. But make no mistake: he was signed because of his defense. General manager Ben Cherington worked in the front office of the Toronto Blue Jays the past three seasons, overlapping tenure with Maile’s time in that organization.

At Maile’s previous stop — the Tampa Bay Rays, new Pirates manager Derek Shelton was on the coaching staff.

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Last season, Maile ranked 16th among 123 qualifying catchers in Baseball Prospectus’ Catcher Defensive Adjustment metric. That’s a marked improvement over former Pirates backup catcher, Elias Diaz, who ranked dead last.

“We know (Maile) can catch and receive,” Shelton said. “So, happy to see the work that he put in between (spring training) 1.0 and (summer camp) 2.0 has really worked.

“It’s been good so far. He’s had nice swings and he’s done a nice job behind the plate.”

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