Major League Baseball unveiled a big surprise Thursday afternoon: A schedule for the 2021 season.
Not 2020, 2021. And it came a few weeks earlier than it would in a non-pandemic-muddled year, too. It’s unclear why MLB felt the need to book their calendars next summer when the coronavirus trajectory and impact could not be more of an unknown.
It seemed odd to plan for something more familiar when the most unfamiliar, unprecedented type of baseball season is still hanging precariously in the balance.
There are two weeks until the season is scheduled to begin. Will it happen?
Here are reasons to be pessimistic and optimistic that we’ll see a World Series this October.
Pessimism: One slip-up can cause disaster
Let’s start with the bad news. Get it out of the way.
Shortened or not, starting a baseball season during a pandemic is a tall task. One skim through the 100-plus page health, safety and new rule manual MLB and MLB Player’s Association agreed-upon details shows how complicated the rules are.
Everyone in baseball needs to be on board 100 percent to follow the rules, because disaster is one slip-up away.
A’s pitcher Jake Diekman, who’s at an elevated risk because of his ulcerative colitis, highlighted that truth when he slammed MLB for not preparing adequately for the initial round of testing that resulted in multiple teams — including the Houston Astros, Washington Nationals and San Francisco Giants — having to cancel their workouts. Most of the A’s took tests on Friday and, after shipments destined for the lab in Utah sat stalled at SFO, didn’t get their results until a day after their report date.
“There’s a little part in everyone’s mind that thinks this is going to be shut down,” Diekman said on a call with reporters. “They might not say it, but there’s a little bit of fear in everyone’s head that it might happen.”
For this season to function, the most essential moving piece is the testing process. Players are tested every other day, and if the results aren’t returned in the timely manner promised in the protocols, then the backlog could cause costly delays during a season already cut way short. What if an entire series needs to be postponed because of a testing backlog?
Diekman’s safety is of concern, but he hopes he can use his platform to push the league to create more safety net under all this: More transparent test results or another testing lab to relieve pressure on the designated lab in Salt Lake City.
If glaring holes within the testing process aren’t resolved, and safety does become a concern, it’s possible complications become too onerous for the season to continue.
Then there is the very real fear that the virus could infect and spread within baseball. On Friday, MLB said 13 players and four staffers tested positive after workouts started, totaling 58 players and eight staffers to test positive so far. Some players have already opted out to eliminate doubt — including San Francisco Giants catcher Buster Posey, who with his wife, Kristen, adopted twin girls born prematurely.
Major League Soccer withdrew its second team from the “MLS Is Back” tournament after nine players from Nashville SC tested positive. FC Dallas was withdrawn earlier in the week when 10 players on that team tested positive.
The fragility of the MLB bubble requires every single player, coach and staff member to be diligent for 66-plus days.
Optimism: Players, coaches want this to work
Even with the initial hiccups, players — particularly around the A’s — seemed only disappointed and not necessarily despondent. Diekman, though frustrated, spoke out because he wanted fixes to be made, not because he felt the attempt to start a season was destined to fail.
Be optimistic that a season will go on because everyone who is opting into the season, it seems, is dedicated toward making it work.
A’s shortstop Marcus Semien took it upon himself well before the team came together to reiterate to the front office that he would ensure the players followed protocol. They were taking this seriously. Leaders will emerge to keep players in line and remind them that the sacrifice is temporary.
“We talked about this with the group today. If you see something that isn’t following the protocols, I have no problem reminding someone to put their mask on,” Semien said. “It’s not me being a stickler, but everyone understands it’s important. We know that with the testing system we have right now, it’s known we don’t get the results right away. So we have to be as safe as we can at all times.”
“You can get every essential item delivered to your house. If you can’t do it for 90 days, I honestly don’t know if I really want to talk to you,” Diekman said.
“Everybody has a responsibility. We understand that,” Semien said. “Coming to the Bay Area, you realize right away how life is here. Everyone is wearing a mask on the field. Things are similar in the clubhouse, maybe more strict in the clubhouse. But when you go out in the public, you see everyone wearing a mask six feet apart, you’ll realize that I need to start practicing if my hometown didn’t have it.”
A’s manager Bob Melvin delivered a message to the group to get them on the same page, safety-wise, but said he is encouraged by the players’ initiative.
“They’re on it already, they’re coming to me,” Melvin said. “I’m tempering it, shortening it today because our guys are very aware of what they need to do.”
That urgency is mirrored by team across the Bay.
“I’ll be wearing the mask as often as I can, everywhere I can when I’m not playing,” San Francisco Giants outfielder Hunter Pence said to reporters on Zoom. “I’m going as extreme as I can. I realize the opportunity to have a season depends on all of us doing the right things.”
Players are aware, conscientious — we can at least hear that sentiment through team leaders like Semien and Pence. Optimism might ride on an ideal that their message sticks with the rest of the team for the duration.
