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Spring Training Comes To An End With Coronavirus

Among the many sporting events that the coronavirus has helped to cancel or postpone, the pandemic brought a swift end to spring training. On Thursday, MLB commissioner Rob Manfred announced that after discussing the matter with the league’s 30 owners that all remaining spring training games would be canceled, and the start of the regular season would be delayed by at least two weeks.

At the time that Manfred made the announcement, several spring training games in Florida were still being played. However, those exhibition games turned out to be the last that will be played this spring.

In its statement, MLB said that canceling spring training games and pushing back the start of the season “in the interests of the safety and well-being of our players, Clubs and our millions of loyal fans.”

In addition to spring training games, World Baseball Classic qualifying games that were scheduled for later this month in Arizona have been postponed indefinitely.

Minor League Baseball also piggybacked on MLB’s announcement, declaring that its scheduled opening day of April 9 would be pushed back, although they have no timeframe for when the minor league season will get underway.

When Manfred made the announcement, we were exactly two weeks away from opening day. Originally, all 30 teams had been scheduled to play their season opener on March 26, which would have been the earliest that every MLB team played its first game in league history.

With Manfred putting a two-week minimum on the start of the season being delayed, the new opening day for the baseball season is tentatively scheduled for April 9.

However, April 9 appears to be little more than a soft target at this point. The season could potentially be pushed back even further, depending on how public health officials assess the ongoing pandemic in the weeks ahead.

The statement MLB released on Thursday states the league “will remain flexible as events warrant, with the hope of resuming normal operations as soon as possible.”

Manfred and the 30 owners have discussed contingency plans but will not announce specific changes to the schedule while the situation remains fluid.

Full Season?

If MLB is able to begin the regular season on April 9, a full 162-game schedule could be played, although the postseason could potentially extend into November. However, any further delay beyond the initial two weeks announced on Thursday could force MLB to play a shortened season.

The last time MLB was forced to play fewer than 162 games was the strike-shortened season of 1995 when the season started 24 days late, and each team played 144 games. Obviously, such an outcome would not be ideal but could be on the table given the current uncertainty of the situation.

In the meantime, MLB players are more or less stuck in limbo. For the time being, players can continue to workout with their teammates at spring training complexes in Florida and Arizona.

However, there is still nearly a month until the start of the regular season, and that’s if there are no further delays. There is also no chance of playing any more spring training games, so there’s only so much players can do to prepare for the season.

More importantly, there is no way to predict how the coronavirus pandemic will develop moving forward and if MLB players could be at risk for the virus on the heels of two NBA players on the same team testing positive for it.

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