
The New York Yankees were notified by MLB that spring training was canceled at 4 pm as of yesterday. The starting of the regular season would be delayed at least two weeks. This news, as the importance and spread of the coronavirus, was becoming more wide-spread and being officially named a pandemic. The steps being taken by all sports organizations, including the MLB, is to slow the spread of the virus.
Each day more and more restrictions are being put in place to limit exposure. Schools, Broadway, sports, and other venues that attract large amounts of people, where they gather in close contact, including nursing homes, are coming under greater restrictions. These restrictions are different in different areas as the need arises, but because many of these go beyond the originally projected time frames, it is doubtful that the baseball season will start for the Yankees on April 6 in Baltimore.
Andy Martino of SNY.tv via twitter said: No one in baseball seems to expect games in April. The state of Illinois has already banned large public gatherings until May, and it stands to reason that more states could follow. No one knows how long the pandemic will disrupt everyday life, and the league hasn’t made any concrete plans for how to move forward.
Some teams held workouts for players on Friday, while others urged personnel to remain home. Most, if not all, organizations held meetings or conference calls to discuss plans, including the Yankees and Mets. Several teams expect to send many baseball operations employees home shortly.
Whenever teams are able to start playing again, they will need to get into game shape. This late in spring training, most pitchers are essentially built up to regular-season shape. The challenge now will be to maintain that during workouts, intrasquad games and ultimately perhaps time at home away from the team.
Naturally, the longer this suspension lasts, the more time players will need to prepare. One team official suggested that the shortened spring training in 1995, following the players’ strike, could serve as a model. Clubs could start the season with expanded rosters allowing for more pitchers.
All of those decisions will come later. At this point, the only thing that seems clear is that baseball will be gone for a while. While the situation remains fluid, we will have to bear this out as it may change from day to day until the virus subsides and the medical community decides it is again safe to congregate.