Is there light at the end of this dark tunnel?
Major League Baseball cancelled spring training in March and postponed Opening Day due to the coronavirus outbreak sweeping the world.
No confirmed date has been sat as to when — or even if — the season will begin, though July 1 has been on what seems to be everyone’s radar.
Former MLB player Trevor Plouffe threw Twitter into a frenzy when he tweeted he had heard Opening Day was set for that date. Though it quickly was refuted, he may have been on to something after all.
Want some good baseball news??
I just heard from multiple sources that on June 10th, Spring Training 2 will start. July 1st will be Opening Day and all teams will be playing at their home ballparks.
We’ll be discussing it in full on the next @TalkinBaseball_
— Trevor Plouffe (@trevorplouffe) May 4, 2020
According to The New York Post’s Joel Sherman, “MLB is planning to present to the Players Association a proposal that will include what is currently the most optimistic hope: What would a season look like if spring training 2.0 began in June and the regular season in July?”
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Of course, there’s still plenty of questions to answer and logistics to consider. For one, will families of players be able to travel? Or will it strictly be players only? What if a player tests positive? What about hotel and ballpark staff who may be high-risk to contract COVID-19? (This goes for managers and coaches, as well). Will there be bubble cities? Will teams play in just their divisions or at their home parks?
A lot can happen between now and June and July. And it certainly depends where the country is in the fight against this virus. Many states either have began to re-open or will begin to open in the coming days and weeks.
And if the season does indeed start in July, there likely won’t be 162 games played before beginning the postseason. There will be plenty of things the MLB and MLBPA will need to agree upon, too.
“The obstacles to returning to play, though, remain significant,” Sherman wrote. “The numbers of Americans contracting and dying from the coronavirus are going up in a few areas where MLB wants to play. There have yet to be clear signals that the league will be provided enough green lights to return all the teams to either their home or spring sites and that the clubs will have the equipment, tests and medical personnel necessary to do so.”
There will be a lot to tackle, for sure. But this seems to be a positive step in getting sports to (safely) return.
