ARLINGTON, Texas — Hal Steinbrenner doled out high praise for his manager, coaches and players Thursday in Tampa, where he observed the Yankees’ Instructional League program.

“We faced a significant amount of adversity this year,” Steinbrenner told the Associated Press of the excessive amount of injuries that didn’t keep the Yankees from winning the AL East for the first time since 2012. “[Aaron] Boone and the coaching staff, and especially the players, they stayed positive throughout. They had each others’ backs and never gave up. It’s a winning mentality in that clubhouse. A long way to go, but we’re going [into the postseason] strong.”

Having 30 players on the IL for 39 stints depleted the lineup and pitching staff, but never sent the Yankees reeling.

“There never was a season injury-wise like this,” Steinbrenner said. “Nobody had ever seen it before. It just seemed to never end. We’d get a guy back and another guy would go down. All kinds of injuries. Pretty much anything you could think of.’’

“The team just stayed positive and somebody else came up to fill-in a void and guys took advantage of opportunities that they knew they might otherwise not have.

“You couldn’t ask for more. It’s a tremendous story but we’ve got to see it through. It’s a pretty fearsome lineup. We’ve got some good starters and, of course, we have a great bullpen. We’ve got as good a chance as anybody.”