(mlb.com) Major League Baseball has officially announced a plan to return to play.
That plan features players reporting for training by July 1. Pitchers and catchers will report first, followed by position players. Teams will be allowed to invite 60 players to big league camp, with only those players eligible to play during the season. Each team’s 60-man list must be submitted by Sunday afternoon. Teams will have the ability to send up to 20 players who are not on the 40-man roster to an alternate site.
For the vast majority of teams, Spring Training 2.0 will be held in the clubs’ Major League ballparks, as recent spikes of the coronavirus in both Florida and Arizona caused all 30 spring facilities to be shut down for deep cleaning.
Players will undergo COVID-19 testing upon arrival, then begin workouts if they test negative. Players, coaches and support staff will be tested for COVID-19 every other day during training camps, the regular season and postseason. Anybody testing positive will be quarantined.
Training camp will lead up to a proposed 60-game regular-season schedule anticipated to begin on July 23 and 24. The schedule would include 10 games for each team against its four divisional opponents, along with 20 games against the opposite league’s corresponding geographical division.
