TAMPA — Joe Girardi pores over the Yankees minor league numbers throughout the regular season, so he isn’t surprised by much within the organization.

“One of the first things I do every morning is check what our kids are doing,” Girardi said Sunday. “The kids I really know, I want to see how they’re progressing, and the kids I don’t know, you’re like, ‘Hmm, I’ve got to find out who this is.’ ”

Jorge Mateo clearly fits in the first category, and with the moves the Yankees have made since July to stock their farm system, Girardi will have plenty of names to keep track of.

For now, though, he gets to see at least a few of them up close, and wants to take advantage of that vantage point as much as possible.

Whether it’s watching Justus Sheffield — who was jettisoned to minor league camp following Sunday’s 10-2 loss to the Braves at George M. Steinbrenner Field in the team’s first round of cuts — or Mateo, who hit his first homer in the defeat.

“It definitely feels good,” Mateo said through a translator of his opposite-field shot in the sixth inning.

And as pleased as Girardi was for the 21-year-old, he was almost rooting for the ball to not leave the park.

“I was hoping the ball didn’t really go out, because I wanted to see him run,” a half-kidding Girardi said. “The other day, I got mad the ball bounced out [for a ground-rule double against Baltimore]. That’s what I want to see, because it’s exciting. I pay close attention to him.”

Mateo’s future with the Yankees isn’t clear, with a move to center field possible or even a trade thanks to the organization’s wealth of middle infielders, but for now, he is looking to make an impression while he can. That’s particularly true because he isn’t far removed from an organization-instituted two-week suspension for violating team rules last season.

So far — though he is just 3-for-18 this spring — it’s working.

“He, [Gleyber] Torres and [Miguel] Andujar are smart,” Starlin Castro said of the Yankees’ three top infield prospects. “They’re not afraid to ask me anything. Whenever I hit in the same group as Mateo, he always says, ‘Look at me, what should I do different?’ But he’s looking good. He’s a good athlete.”

Mateo showed that on a nice play to his right on a Brandon Phillips fourth-inning grounder that he turned into a 6-4-3 double play.

It was a rare highlight on an otherwise ugly afternoon for the Yankees — and Mateo wasn’t able to handle a hard grounder by Rio Ruiz in Atlanta’s six-run first — but it provided a glimpse into why the team isn’t in a hurry to trade Mateo or shift him to the outfield.

If the outfield is in Mateo’s future, both Castro and Brett Gardner believe he should be up for the challenge.

“I never tried it, but if you can play short like he can, you can play any position,” Castro said. “If you have enough time to work on it, you can do it.”

Gardner agreed.

“Man, he’s got a lot of talent and raw tools,” Gardner said. “Everybody talks about his speed, but he hit a missile for an opposite-field homer. He can impact the baseball. I’m sure he probably could move to center, he’d just need reps and his athleticism would take over.”

While he’s still on the major league side, Mateo said he wants to soak up as much as possible from players such as Castro.

“The veterans push you to be better,” Mateo said. “It’s motivating.”

And Girardi said he won’t forget about Mateo when he leaves.

“I have a close eye on him all the time,” Girardi said.