Due to the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic, there currently is a lot of uncertainty surrounding the 2020 Major League Baseball season.
Only time will tell when the United States is able to get the virus under control to the point where sports can resume, but one thing that is for sure is that the 2020 MLB season will be shorter than usual and likely will need to extend into the months of November and perhaps even December.
It seems that everyone is committed to doing what they can to get some sort of season in though, and some potential ways to do that is to get rid of the All-Star break altogether and play multiple doubleheaders a week.
While players are willing to do that, increasing the number of games in a short period of time will be taxing on pitching staffs.
Justin Turner came up with a way to solve that issue as instead of playing extra-inning games beyond the 10th, he proposed that a Home Run Derby be put in place to determine the winner. That way, teams don’t have to burn their pitching staffs as much in case they have a doubleheader the following day or whatever the case may be.
One teammate who is in favor of Turner’s idea in Joc Pederson, who is no stranger to Home Run Derbys. Pederson participated in the event during All-Star week in both 2015 and 2019 and stole the show both times with some epic rounds even though he didn’t win either time.
Pederson took to Instagram to agree with Turner, posting a video of his round against Vladimir Guerrero Jr. from last year:
https://www.instagram.com/p/B-hmpPTnnFy/
It’s unclear if MLB would seriously take Turner’s proposal into consideration, but the more players that come out in agreement with him, the more likely the league is to take a deeper look.
At this point, anything that can help a 2020 season be more feasible has to be considered, even if it as something as drastic as a Home Run Derby in place of extra innings. Other sports like soccer and hockey have similar rules in place, and fans have enjoyed it for many years.
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