TAMPA — With the clock racing toward the final two-thirds of a baseball season in which Jacoby Ellsbury hasn’t played a game at any level, the center fielder believes there is enough time to get off the DL and back to the big leagues.

On June 22, Ellsbury said the plan was to get back to the Yankees. Talking to The Post and Newsday on Monday outside the Yankees’ minor league complex, Ellsbury said that continues to be his goal as he works through a lower back problem that has kept him from beginning baseball activities.

“I have been putting in good work at the complex, that is still the plan,’’ said Ellsbury, who has progressed from treatment in the trainer’s room to weight-room workouts. “You try to say you are hopeful, come in, get your work in and do everything you can to play this season.”

Ellsbury’s days are spent at the complex, and he says the nights have been filled by watching Yankees games.

“I want to play this season. It’s tough, I watch the guys play on TV. I watch every night,” Ellsbury said. “You want to be part of the mix, and the team is playing well.’’

Ellsbury, 34, hasn’t necessarily been missed. The Yankees’ 63-34 record (.649 winning percentage) entering Monday night’s action was the second best in baseball by two percentage points over the 66-36 Astros’ .647.

Aaron Hicks was the starting center fielder entering spring training, and except for a 13-day stint on the DL at the beginning of the season, the switch-hitter has been a constant in the Yankees’ lineup. The .245 average could use improvement, but Hicks has hit 16 homers, driven in 44 runs, posted a .347 on-base percentage and an .827 OPS.

When Hicks gets a day off, Brett Gardner slides over from left to center and provides solid defense and leadoff skills.

With Aaron Judge and Giancarlo Stanton to go with Hicks and Gardner, the Yankees have four outfielders for three spots on a nightly basis.

Ellsbury hasn’t appeared in a game other than a spring training tilt due to a basket of injuries. First it was an oblique problem. Then it was plantar fasciitis. Next came a hip deal. Ellsbury saw a back specialist in June who diagnosed a problem with the sacroiliac, which is the junction of the sacrum and hip bone. All trouble for a player owed $68 million for this season and the next two, before it would cost the Yankees $5 million to buy him out in 2021.

As for when Ellsbury starts throwing, running and taking batting practice, he didn’t know Monday.

“I haven’t yet,” Ellsbury said when asked if he had started baseball activities since last addressing his situation on June 22. “It’s been the weight room and trainer’s room.’’

Has that work resulted in progress?

“We are making some gains. Still have a ways to go before doing baseball stuff but progressing,” Ellsbury said.

After leaving the complex, Ellsbury planned on traveling to Tropicana Field in St. Petersburg to speak with the Yankees’ training staff. The Yankees were set to open a three-game series against the Rays on Monday night.

“I will talk to [trainer] Stevie Donohue and go over this week’s plan,” Ellsbury said. “That’s how we have kept it, we have gone week to week. The plan is to make progress this week.”

The big league clock isn’t the only obstacle in Ellsbury’s way of getting back before the regular season ends on Sept. 30 in Boston. The minor league seasons finish at the end of August and beginning of September. The only chance to play in minor league games after the regular season is over is if a team makes the playoffs. There are simulated games, but that is usually a step in the middle of the rehab process, not the final step.