The Toronto Blue Jays may have found their new home for the 2020 season.
After the Canadian government denied the team’s approval request to play at Toronto’s Rogers Center due to concerns about teams crossing the border amid the coronavirus pandemic (COVID-19), the club received approval to play most of their local games. at PNC Park in Pittsburgh, according to Sportsnet. Jim Bowden of CBS Sports confirmed the Sportsnet report.
Under Sportsnet’s Shi Davidi plans, there is a plan between the Blue Jays and Pirates on how the two clubs will play at the same stadium, the Blue Jays still awaiting official approval from local and state officials.
The Blue Jays had initially considered playing their home games at their Triple-A affiliate stadium in Buffalo, New York, their spring training stadium in Dunedin, Florida. and Camden Yards, home of the Orioles in Baltimore, Maryland. There were concerns about the ballpark adjustments that would be necessary in Buffalo and Florida’s continued COVID-19 surge for their spring training site.
The Blue Jays will begin their 2020 season on Friday at Tropicana Field to face the Tampa Bay Rays. Toronto’s first “home” game is scheduled for July 29. In the league’s new geographic calendar for this season, the Blue Jays and Pirates are not part of the same region. Due to efforts to contain additional exposure to COVID-19, the teams will not venture outside of their “regions”.
Each MLB team will play 40 of their 60 games against opponents from their own division, so the Blue Jays and Pirates will play 10 games against their rivals AL East and NL Central, respectively. Then the remaining 20 games will be those of the corresponding geographic division of the opposing league, which means AL East will face NL East; NL Central will face AL Central. The 2020 MLB postseason will maintain its 10-team format, with two Wild Card teams from each league.
As far as the Pirates and Blue Jays 2020 local calendar is concerned, the two clubs are currently scheduled to play their local games on the same date seven times on the calendar, but four of the overlapping “local” games are not until the end of September. As of now, the two clubs have scheduled home games for September 29, 8, 9, 21, 22, 23 and September 24. It will surely be a logistical situation for the league, and they will have to find out the alternative solutions as soon as possible.
While the 2020 MLB schedule is set, and the teams are nearly complete with their second round of spring training, there are still five off-field questions facing the league in this shortened 60-game season. Meanwhile, the CBS Sports MLB staff has made their choice for divisions, World Series, MVP, Cy Young Awards, and more.
