Phillies: What to know for resumption of play vs. Yankees
What was the MLB/MLBPA agreement?
An agreement came together between the MLBPA and MLB, agreeing that doubleheaders will now become 7-innings starting August 1. In these games, the base runner starting on second in extra innings will start in the 8th inning.
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What about other games the Phillies missed?
Well, their schedule could become strenuous. Almost nothing has been said about schedule changes aside from the series between the Phillies and the Yankees after a week-long hiatus. MLB has not released a plan or statement on future schedule changes or reschedules. Seemingly, the schedule is being sorted out and made up as they go along.
Doubleheaders may be played later on in the year, too. It would just be rough on the Phillies due to their lack of pitching. With the updated schedule, they miss games against the Marlins and Blue Jays. However, they do play the Marlins and Blue Jays again down the stretch in September.
What can Major League Baseball do about the outbreaks?
Believe it or not, the MLB reserves the right to relocate any team from its home city or hold games at a neutral site, both in the postseason and regular season, due to health and safety concerns. It wouldn’t be surprising if this happened with a team like the Marlins, but does MLB have a neutral site readily prepared? Probably not. They might have some ready in time for playoff baseball, because that is where they make a lot of money off TV deals.
Of course, Manfred could also shut the season down at any time.
Are any players upset?
The outbreaks and how they have been handled have received backlash from multiple MLB players. Among them include the Los Angeles Dodgers’ David Price, who opted out, and the Chicago Cubs’ Anthony Rizzo.
Player safety? @mlb let’s sit around for 8 plus hours inside the clubhouse.. I’m sure I can find that somewhere in the 113 page player safety protocol.
— Anthony Rizzo (@ARizzo44) July 30, 2020
Now we REALLY get to see if MLB is going to put players health first. Remember when Manfred said players health was PARAMOUNT?! Part of the reason I’m at home right now is because players health wasn’t being put first. I can see that hasn’t changed.
— David Price (@DAVIDprice24) July 27, 2020
Could the Phillies just play daily doubleheaders?
Nothing is out of the question. The Phillies plainly do not have enough pitching to play in multiple doubleheaders throughout the week. Although doubleheaders would only be seven innings long, there is a chance the Phillies could play 7 games in 5 days, with 2 doubleheaders.
In that case, no one knows who Joe Girardi would turn to on the mound after the first two games of the stretch.
Even after all of this, the Phillies only remain slightly behind the Atlanta Braves in the National League East standings.
Hopefully, the Phillies and fans get real answers to these questions soon. And, let’s hope that baseball can survive COVID-19.
No one wants the season to shut down. One major question remains: can Major League Baseball get this under control for three to four months? If the answer is no, there probably won’t be any baseball past late-August.