MLB suspends spring training, start of Royals season delayed at least two weeks
Major League Baseball Commissioner Rob Manfred announced on Thursday afternoon that spring training has been suspended and the start of the regular season will be delayed at least two weeks because of COVID-19 coronavirus concerns.
World Baseball Classic qualifying games scheduled to take place in Tucson, Arizona, have also been postponed.
Shortly before the announcement from MLB, the Kansas City Royals announced they’d canceled their Cactus League game against the Seattle Mariners at Surprise Stadium.
“MLB will continue to evaluate ongoing events leading up to the start of the season,” MLB said in a statement. “Guidance related to daily operations and workouts will be relayed to Clubs in the coming days. ...
“MLB and the Clubs have been preparing a variety of contingency plans regarding the 2020 regular season schedule. MLB will announce the effects on the schedule at an appropriate time and will remain flexible as events warrant, with the hope of resuming normal operations as soon as possible.
“Nothing is more important to us than the health and safety of our players, employees and fans. MLB will continue to undertake the precautions and best practices recommended by public health experts. We send our best wishes to all individuals and communities that have been impacted by coronavirus.”
Tuesday, marked the first day that MLB made all clubhouses completely off-limits to media and reporters as baseball joined the other four major sports leagues, the NBA, NHL and MLS, in restricting access to the clubhouse out of concerns about spreading coronavirus.
The NBA suspended its season on Wednesday night, and the NHL and MLS suspended their seasons on Thursday. The Big 12 Conference men’s and women’s basketball tournaments in Kansas City were canceled and the NCAA canceled the Division I men’s and women’s 2020 basketball tournaments, as well as all remaining winter and spring championships.
Earlier in the day, Kansas City Mayor Quinton Lucas issued a state of emergency forcing all events with more than 1,000 people to cancel. That ban on events runs 21 days, which is right up until the scheduled home opener for the Kansas City Royals on April 2.
“Player are of course disappointed they won’t be able to compete on the field. At the same time, they recognize the importance of public health and safety,” MLB Players Association Executive Director Tony Clark said in a statement.
Because of the delayed start of the season, the Royals will not play their first scheduled homestand of the season.
“The Kansas City Royals are fully supportive of Major League Baseball’s decision to delay the start of the 2020 season,” the club said in a release. “The health and comfort of our players, staff, fans and partners are top priority for the organization.
“The Royals are working on ticket policies for the games that were scheduled during the first homestand (April 2-8). The Club will communicate more information in the next several days. The Royals will continue to monitor the situation through Major League Baseball, which is in direct contact daily with the Centers for Disease Control.”
Conversations were ongoing among baseball officials on Thursday afternoon to decide how players and organizations will proceed. Royals officials were planning to meet on Friday morning in Arizona to discuss plans.
Royals manager Mike Matheny told players he’d meet them on Friday after the club had a chance to get more information.
“I’m just waiting to hear what’s expected of us,” Matheny said.
As far as the minimum two-week delay in the start of the season, Matheny said the staff will start planning with April 9 as a new target date to start the season. They’ll try to work backward from that date to get players ready for the season, but there’s still a lot of uncertainty.
“I don’t know where we’re going with this,” Matheny said.
The NBA’s decision came on the heels of Utah Jazz All-Star center Rudy Gobert reportedly testing positive for the virus on Wednesday. His teammate All-Star guard Donovan Mitchell has since also reportedly tested positive.
“Nobody is nervous about getting it,” Royals All-Star Whit Merrifield said Thursday morning. “From my understanding, Rudy was ready to play last night. It’s not us contracting that is the concern. It’s spreading it. ...
“We had a meeting with the doctor a couple weeks ago. Basically, he told us if we get it we probably won’t even know we got it. It will be very mild symptoms, if any symptoms. If the symptoms do happen to get a little intense, it will be like having the flu. Our bodies will fight it off. We’re young and healthy and our immune systems are strong. It’s not us they’re worried about, it’s passing it to those that can’t fight it off.”
This story was originally published March 12, 2020 at 2:10 PM.
