With 100 pages of protocols in place, MLB is working to ‘stay nimble’ as season nears
It won’t be long now before Major League Baseball is back after a more than three-month hiatus. Players begin reporting to their home cities on Wednesday with spring training 2.0 starting shortly afterward. If all goes well, Opening Day will be either July 23 or 24.
So much will be the same, but so much will be different, too.
That’s the nature of trying to bring back some sense of normalcy in the age of the coronavirus pandemic.
Overall, it’s still baseball, even if the 162-game season has been slashed to 60 contests and restrictions need to be in place to ensure safety of all involved. There are still nine players in the starting lineup, nine innings, three outs per inning. Ten teams go to the postseason for a chance to win a World Series (even if it’s a World Series that will be viewed with an asterisk).
The differences will be much more stark.
Some will be noticeable by fans who are watching games on TV. No high-fives. No spitting (whether it’s saliva, sunflower seeds, peanut shells or tobacco). Pitchers using a wet rag instead of licking their fingers. A universal designated hitter. Extra-inning games with a runner starting on second base and the possibility of games ending in ties.
Much more nuance will take place behind the scenes, from social distancing of at least six feet in the clubhouse to staggered practices to at least twice-daily temperature checks, testing for the virus every other day, and monthly antibody tests.
These are just some of the precautions MLB and the MLB Players Association put in place as part of a 100-plus-page operation manual, which includes the necessary health and safety protocols that had to be enacted due to COVID-19, the disease caused by the novel coronavirus.
It’s detailed, breaking down specific instructions for how players, coaches and all others associated with putting on a baseball game can act to best avoid contracting the virus. Topics range from COVID-19 testing to isolation to proper hygiene inside an airport bathroom during road trips.
“It’s about being as correct as you can be,” said Dr. Lee Kaplan, the Miami Marlins’ team medical director. “And when it’s not correct, you correct it, you overcorrect and you stay nimble.”
And it comes with a stark reminder.
“The COVID-19 pandemic has had an enormous and unprecedented impact on our daily lives our family and our communities,” the manual’s introduction reads. “This is a challenging time, but we will meet the challenge by continuing to work together. ... We hope that resuming Baseball will, in its own small way, return a sense of normalcy and aid in recovery.”
Avoiding ‘the one slip-up’
And with that challenging time comes a heightened responsibility on players when they’re away from the ballpark. Unlike the NBA and the NHL, which are respectively playing the remainder of their seasons in a bubble and two hub cities, MLB is playing games in its home stadiums.
Teams are traveling, although the schedule being made is limiting teams to facing those in the same geographical divisions (the Marlins, for example, are playing 40 games against their National League East opponents and 20 against the American League East).
Teams can control how individuals operate when they’re at MLB facilities. An honor system comes into place everywhere else.
“MLB will not formally restrict the activities of covered individuals when they are away from club facilities, but will expect the covered individuals on each club to ensure that they all act responsibly,” reads a passage on page 19 of the league’s manual, a copy of which was obtained by the Miami Herald. “The careless actions of a single individual places the entire team [and their families] at risk.”
In simpler terms: One person going AWOL can impact the entire team.
For purposes of facility access and virus management, MLB is dividing its personnel into tiers. Tier 1 includes players, on-field coaching staff, athletic trainers, team physicians and physical therapists. Tier 2 includes baseball operations staffers, clubhouse attendants and club security personnel.
Everyone in Tier 1 and Tier 2 is considered a “covered individual.” Both groups have access to all areas of the ballpark, but those in Tier 2 must keep a distance from Tier 1 individuals and wear personal protective equipment.
A lot of moving parts. A lot of chances for error. A lot of necessity for caution.
“It can be as simple as the equipment guys not having their mask up when they’re going to change a bat,” Kaplan said. “It could be the fact that the clubhouse person is in a watch group because of age or concomitant medical issue. It can be because somebody was exposed by the facilities. So, it really is one of these least common denominator, the one slip-up.”
So players, who regularly try to compete through colds and minor illnesses as much as through sprained ankles and sore knees, will need to be more open about any symptoms they may be experiencing.
It also means outside contact and large gatherings away from the stadium or team facility should be minimized, something that should already be done now more than ever in Florida. The state on Friday reported a single-day high of 8,942 confirmed positive cases with a 14.74 percent positivity rate. Miami-Dade County alone saw 1,528 new cases Friday.
“It’s a change of behavior, a change of how we do things,” Kaplan said. “It’s evolutionary, but it really comes down to if we don’t do it right, we may not be able to play. And even if we do it right, there are still some issues that could come up.”
‘People are going to test positive’
Kaplan’s main priority right now is getting ready for the rush of players and team personnel that will be arriving to Marlins Park starting Wednesday to be screened prior to spring training and dealing with the inevitable.
“Quite frankly,” Kaplan said, “people are going to test positive.”
The important factor for Kaplan and for all teams is how to handle those positive tests as they come in. The Marlins have already had one player test positive despite being asymptomatic.
According to the operations manual, any person who receives a positive test for the coronavirus must go into self-isolation until receiving clearance from the team physician and the joint COVID-19 Health and Safety Committee. He or she will not be allowed to travel with the team, use team facilities or have contact with team personnel until he or she has received consecutive negative tests at least 24 hours apart, has been symptom-free for at least 72 hours and completes an antibody test, among other requirements. Contact tracing will also take place.
All team personnel will undergo a prescreening process before arriving for spring training that includes a temperature check, a body fluid sample (either saliva or an oral/nasal swab) and drawn blood for antibody testing. A self-quarantine is in place for 24 to 48 hours after that to await test results. A negative test results in the individual being allowed to report to the team’s facility.
During spring training and during the course of the season, players will have their temperature tested frequently (including at least once daily at home before arriving to the stadium and when they arrive to the stadium) and be tested for COVID-19 every two days.
A day at the ballpark
When the season finally arrives, there will be alterations to their pre- and post-game setups.
Players will not be allowed into the clubhouse more than five hours before first pitch and need to leave the stadium within 90 minutes of the game ending. Clubhouse access for players will be limited to no more than four hours on one of the rare off days. Public transportation is off-limits for traveling to the stadium for home games, but ride shares such as Uber and Lyft are allowed.
Weight room and bullpen sessions will need to be staggered to ensure social distancing. Showering at the team facility “is discouraged but not prohibited.” Players and coaches are encouraged to arrive to the stadium dressed ready to play. Times for players to be in the locker room or clubhouse could be staggered if social distancing recommendations of at least six feet can’t be met. Use of indoor batting cages is discouraged if players can hit on the field outdoors. Pregame and postgame meals will be served in to-go containers.
Players on the active roster or taxi squad not expected to play in the game will sit in the stands, at least six feet apart, instead of in the dugout. Leaning on the dugout railing is discouraged but allowed if a towel is used as a barrier.
With all of this in place, players will be able to take the field.
In less than a month’s time, two words that have been missing since mid-March will be heard again.
Play ball.
“Sports really allowed people to understand the severity of this,” Kaplan said. “Coming back to play sports, hopefully in a mitigated kind of circumstance with all precautions, will be an emphasis to people now running around without masks, without sanitizer, without social distancing to see the limitations we still have.”
This story was originally published June 26, 2020 at 2:07 PM.
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