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Report: MLB making changes to Covid-19 protocols
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The abbreviated season of Major League Baseball 2020 is underway and things have looked different. There are new coronavirus health and safety rules, protocols, and games being played in stadiums without fans. A change in the length of the double heads is as follows.
The league and the MLB Players Association (MLBPA) have agreed on an agreement to play seven-inning doubles during the 2020 season, beginning as early as Saturday, August 1, according to ESPN’s Jeff Passan. Having double seven-inning games instead of a couple of nine-inning games is common practice in the minor leagues.
For those wondering, Passan notes that the current run-per-second rule for additional innings will start with the eighth inning during short doubleheads.
In 2020 MLB is putting emphasis on packing as many games as possible. With the possible shortening of the double-headed game from 18 innings to 14, it could be a possible way to give players (and especially pitchers) more rest and decrease the risk of injury. Reducing the number of innings played in a short period of time would ideally help players avoid serious injury in this unusual 60-game season with its shortened acceleration period.
The union had asked players to consider adjusting the rules as a way to maximize their health, according to Britt Ghiroli of The Athletic. There’s also a chance the league could extend the 30-man limit for additional time, according to Ghiroli. As of now, the 30-man roster is supposed to drop to 28 players after two weeks, and then drop to a 26-man roster two weeks later.
Following the Miami Marlins coronavirus outbreak, MLB revised its schedule to include the isolation time for clubs that may have been exposed to COVID-19. The Philadelphia Phillies had two team staff members, a coach and a clubhouse assistant, tested positive for COVID-19 on Thursday. His weekend series with the Toronto Blue Jays (which was scheduled to present a double title on Saturday) was postponed.
