There was much to discuss Wednesday in a conference call between reporters, Boston Red Sox president and CEO, Sam Kennedy, and chief baseball officer Chaim Bloom.
It was the first media availability since Major League Baseball and its players union agreed upon a 60-game season and extensive health and safety protocols.
Kennedy and Bloom made it clear that their organization is completely committed to playing baseball this year, and that means having “Spring Training 2.0” in their home markets as opposed to Florida, where COVID-19 cases continue to spike.
But workouts may not be limited to just Fenway Park.
The Red Sox have inquired with Boston College about potential use of new facility, Brighton Field, as well as use of McCoy Stadium, the home of Triple-A Pawtucket, according to multiple reports.
Kennedy says they're trying to work with Boston College to use their facilities for parts of spring training, but nothing official yet. "Fenway Park will be the primary site."
— Jason Mastrodonato (@JMastrodonato) June 24, 2020
Sam Kennedy says Sox have talked to Boston College about using their facility (in addition to Fenway) during Spring Training 2.0.
— Alex Speier (@alexspeier) June 24, 2020
Red Sox are planning to use McCoy Stadium in Pawtucket as their alternate site, Chaim Bloom says.
— Chris Cotillo (@ChrisCotillo) June 24, 2020
Red Sox taxi squad location is expected to be McCoy Stadium in Pawtucket
— Alex Speier (@alexspeier) June 24, 2020
During the first two weeks of the season, teams will be allowed to carry 30 players and it will decrease from there. Meanwhile, phase one of training camp will only permit small group workouts consisting of a few players.
At first, it may make sense to spread these groups out across various fields in the Greater Boston Area to make staggering workouts between groups a bit easier.