MLB commissioner Rob Manfred announced on Tuesday afternoon that Major League Baseball anticipates beginning its 2020 regular season on July 23rd or July 24th. 

The announcement came following confirmation that the MLB Players Association had accepted the health and safety protocols that will guide MLB’s return to play and that players will be able to report for Spring Training-2 by July 1st. The health and safety of players and employees will remain MLB’s foremost priorities in its return to play. MLB is working with a variety of public health experts, infectious disease specialists and technology providers on a comprehensive approach that aims to facilitate a safe return.

MLB has submitted a 60-game regular-season schedule for review by the Players Association. The proposed schedule will largely feature divisional play, with the remaining portion of each team’s games against their opposite league’s corresponding geographical division (i.e., East vs. East, Central vs. Central and West vs. West), in order to mitigate travel. The vast majority of teams are expected to conduct Spring Training-2 at the ballparks in their primary home cities.

“Major League Baseball is thrilled to announce that the 2020 season is on the horizon,” Manfred said in a written news release on Tuesday afternoon. “We have provided the Players Association with a schedule to play 60 games and are excited to provide our great fans with baseball again soon.”

In a bit of irony, shortly after Manfred’s news release, Denver Post writer Kyle Newman posted this on Twitter:

Stay tuned…

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(Article courtesy of LA Dodgers)

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