The Los Angeles Dodgers are scheduled to hold their first official workout of Spring Training 2.0 on Friday, July 3, which is four months after Major League Baseball came to a halt in response to the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic.
The Dodgers — and all other MLB clubs — will then begin the 60-game season during the final week of July. “To be honest, it’s treading lightly and trying to be nimble,” Dodgers manager Dave Roberts said about his emotions and excitement level.
“I say that because things are bound to change and it’s going to be very unpredictable. So need to be open to that and be sensitive to different players’ mindsets and where they’re at. I’m excited to get going but I think that where normally the scope is a lot more finite, rightfully so it’s a little wider. I’m excited but treading lightly and carefully.”
The Dodgers have already dealt with a bout of the coronavirus, as president of baseball operations Andrew Friedman revealed members of the organization tested positive. Friedman did not clarify if that applied to players.
On top of the health component, Friedman and Roberts were subject to the several turns negotiations between MLB and the Players Association took. “The last three weeks have been quite the rollercoaster,” Friedman said.
“From our standpoint, obviously what we wanted to do was get back on the field. We felt incredibly good about our squad in early March and then got to a point where we hit pause on that for a little while. Doc and I were itching to get things back going. We’re not that patient and we have no control over it, so we were kind of in the cheap seats just cheering for this outcome.”
Roberts added: “I was hopeful an agreement would be had. Like Andrew said, for us, we get very antsy and we want to play baseball, but we realized very quickly it was out of hour hands and there was nothing we could do. So for me personally, just trying to stay connected to players and coaches was the thing I wanted to make sure we did through this whole process.”
Friedman and Roberts anticipate speaking with players on an individual basis during which time they will address any questions or concerns. Some of those conversations have been had, and Friedman thus far said none have been at the level of a player considering sitting the season out.
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