Major League Baseball informed the teams on Tuesday that the start of the 2021 Triple-A season will be delayed by a month. As a result, MLB clubs will operate alternative training sites similar to those used in the shortened 2020 pandemic season.
The Triple-A season was originally scheduled to begin on April 6, but games will be pushed back to early May, at about the same time as the Double-A and Class A seasons are expected to begin. Some Triple-A teams will temporarily begin the seasons. on May 4, and the rest two days later.
“This is a prudent step to complete the Major League and Minor League seasons as safely as possible, and we look forward to having fans back in stadiums across the country very soon,” said Morgan Sword, MLB’s executive vice president for baseball operations. in a statement.
With the COVID-19 pandemic that led to the cancellation of the 2020 Minor League season, alternative sites were set up as part of MLB’s health and safety protocols, providing a close location for clubs to train and develop players during the campaign. MLB shortened.
It is not yet determined how many players will be allowed on alternative sites this year. Last season, the clubs presented groups of players of 60 people, and those who were included in a group of players, but who were not in the active list of the Major League, were able to train in the alternative place. The difference this year is that there will be a simultaneous spring training in the Minor League in April, giving clubs more options to prepare their Minor Leagues for the season.
Reinstating alternative training venues will reduce the risk by temporarily eliminating the airline’s commercial travel that would be required during the Triple-A season. Alternative sites also make it easier for MLB teams to monitor coronavirus testing and manage protocols.
Meanwhile, the delay of the Triple-A season increases the chance that players can be vaccinated before the start of the season, as the COVID-19 vaccine continues to be launched across the country. On Tuesday, President Biden announced that there will be enough vaccine for every adult in the United States by the end of May.