MLB Delayed Until Memorial Day?
How long will the start of the MLB season be delayed by the coronavirus? The latest news is that Opening Day could be pushed all the way back to Memorial Day weekend or later.
Two Major League Baseball executives told USA Today’s Bob Nightengale that Opening Day could be delayed until Memorial Day or later due to the coronavirus pandemic. Nightengale says that team owners and presidents will have a conference call on Monday afternoon to determine what the next steps will be, but the league has already advised clubs to end organized group workouts at their spring training and home parks.
Nightengale also writes that while no one knows when Major League Baseball will begin its 2020 season, playing a 162-game schedule starting on April 9 is “completely unrealistic.”
Part of the challenge that Major League Baseball will eventually face is that players will need at least another two weeks of spring training to make sure they’re ready for the start of the season. So even if the league wants to start on Memorial Day (which is May 25 this year), that may actually be the start to a two-week spring training, with regular season games starting in June. At that point, there’s no way around a shortened season.
For now, players were instructed to go home and wait until further notice. While some media outlets were optimistic that the season would start in April, that idea appears to be a pipe dream as Major League Baseball (and other leagues, for that matter) continue to fly blind due to this pandemic.