MLB Looking to Start 2020 Season by July 4

It looks like the 2020 Major League Baseball season could start in a couple of months. According to Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic, MLB is targeting to start the season with Opening Day by July 4. It’s also possible the season could begin in mid-June depending on how things go with the coronavirus pandemic.

“The most realistic time range for Opening Day — somewhere between mid-June and July 4, in the view of most officials — would allow for an 80- to 100-game regular season, with the schedule running through October,” Rosenthal wrote. “An expanded postseason at neutral sites might follow, with the World Series ending in late November or early December.” If that happens, the next question is where does the season begin, and will there be fans at the stadiums? R.J. Anderson of CBS Sports reported MLB is looking to start the season in Florida, Texas, and Arizona, with a group of teams in each location. The league is hoping teams then to transition into their own ballparks as the season rolls on. As for fans attending the games when teams are at their home stadiums, that will depend on the stay-at-home orders being lifted by the states.

Earlier this month, the league was looking to start the season sometime in May. All the teams would be in Arizona and would play in different stadiums across the state. That plan was never set in stone, but it’s still possible some teams will play in Arizona if the league restarts by June or July.

“MLB has been actively considering numerous contingency plans that would allow play to commence once the public health situation has improved to the point that it is safe to do so,” the MLB said in a statement in early April. “While we have discussed the idea of staging games at one location as one potential option, we have not settled on that option or developed a detailed plan. While we continue to interact regularly with governmental and public health officials, we have not sought or received approval of any plan from federal, state and local officials, or the Players Association.”

MLB suspended spring training in early March, which was around the same time the NBA suspended the season after Utah Jazz player Rudy Gobert tested positive for coronavirus. Other sports leagues across the country began to do the same thing, and they are now coming up with plans to return.