Right now, every baseball player is sitting at home anxious to get back on the field and see the world return to normal.

But Jason Kipnis might be feeling a little extra when it comes to that anticipation.

Kipnis is a Chicagoland native (Northbrook) and signed with the Cubs over the winter on a minor-league deal after spending the first nine years of his career with the Cleveland Indians. He was at least able to suit up for the Cubs in spring training for a few weeks, but he’s still waiting to make his regular season debut with his childhood team.

While baseball faces an uncertain future, the veteran second baseman has been working out at the Kipnis Center in Northbrook, where he has access to a batting cage and weights so he’s at least able to work out and keep his swing sharp.

All the while, he’s staying by his phone and trying to keep positive instead of wallowing in the fact that he’s missing the opportunity to play at Wrigley Field in front of all his family and friends.

“It just seems like it will never happen right now,” Kipnis said in an interview with Michael Kim on Marquee Sports Network’s “The Stadium” Tuesday. “I try to stay positive, I try to reassure myself at times that it’s gonna happen — just stay patient. You just never know what’s gonna happen down the road or in the future or this year on forward.

“For now, we’re just gonna keep our fingers crossed and hope that it does happen this year.”

Kipnis has seen a lot of the proposals circulating about the potential for Major League Baseball to bring a season back where everybody is stationed in Arizona or across only a few states.

He hasn’t put too much stock into anything he’s heard yet, understanding that a lot of it is speculation.

“I know a lot of these are like brainstorming ideas that they might just put out there to give people something to hold onto, some hope,” Kipnis said. “I know they’ve got a lot of hoops to jump through before it becomes a reality. There’s a lot of incentive on both sides to get some games in, whether it’s owners and managers or the players themselves. You’d be lying to yourself if you didn’t think money makes the world go ’round in this instance, that we’re trying to put a product out.

“I think a lot of guys, one thing we can all agree on is we want to play this year. I think everyone just wants to make sure that it’s safe and a reasonable way to do it. I don’t think we want to force the issue. If they find a way to make it happen where we all agree that it’s a safe way to take that next step forward, I’ll be ready to go.”

One of the things Kipnis was looking forward to most about the 2020 season was that his parents wouldn’t have to travel anymore to see him play and a bunch of his friends already hold season tickets at Wrigley Field.

That dream scenario has had to undergo a makeover, as nobody knows if the Cubs will play any games in front of fans at Wrigley Field this summer.

Kipnis fondly remembers his time growing up watching the Cubs, first getting hooked on baseball by following Ryne Sandberg and Mark Grace and then becoming obsessed with the game during the 1998 home run race between Sammy Sosa and Mark McGwire.

The 33-year-old loved watched Kerry Wood, Mark Prior and Greg Maddux pitch, but Sosa holds a special place in his heart.

“Sammy was just captivating,” Kipnis said. “He was must-see television in his prime. As most of baseball was in that era, you just gotta tune in because you’re gonna see something you might not ever see again and you might not ever see before. That did a lot for hooking me on the game of baseball.”

The Stadium airs weekdays on Marquee Sports Network at 6:30 p.m.