After a lengthy negotiation process with MLB owners and the Major League Baseball Players Association (MLBPA), professional baseball is finally set to make its return to the sports world.
According to MLB’s Mark Feinsand, “Major League Baseball has officially announced a plan to return to play that features players reporting for training by July 1, leading up to a proposed 60-game regular-season schedule anticipated to begin on July 23 or 24.”
Similar to the NBA and NHL, the MLB fell victim to the COVID-19 outbreak in the U.S. On March 12, the remainder of the spring training for teams was cancelled and the regular season was postponed indefinitely.
Upon their return, players, coaches, and staff will be subject to COVID-19 tests every other day during the course of training camps, the regular season and postseason. Players who test positive will be quarantined.
The MLB’s 60-game schedule, pending approval by the MLBPA, will be designed to mitigate travel as much as possible. Teams will have 10 regular season games for each team in their division along with 20 games against teams in the corresponding opposite league. An example of this would be the American League (AL) East playing the National League (NL) East.
