A recent announcement from MLB Communications confirms that the Mets’ series against the Marlins from April 28-3o in San Juan, Puerto Rico has been canceled due to the ongoing worries over the coronavirus pandemic.
An April 18-19 series set between the Padres and Diamondbacks in Mexico City, Mexico has also been canceled. Both matchups will be rescheduled in the home teams’ respective cities of Miami and Phoenix.
Cancellations of international contests, at least those scheduled within the first month of the season, seemed imminent given the recommendations of the Center for Disease Control.
The 2020 Major League Baseball season had already been postponed through mid-May, on the back of the CDC’s advised eight-week moratorium of events exceeding 50 people. Spring training camps across the league have closed across the last few days, with two Yankee minor leaguers testing positive for COVID-19 in that time.
At this time, MLB owners, alongside such players as Freddie Freeman and Jason Heyward have combined to pledge over $30 million (and counting) in financial relief to displaced ballpark employees and local community programs, though we remain unsure as to when the rate of confirmed cases may slow.
In the meantime, all of us at Metsmerized Online advise that you take up social distancing (if you have not already), keep tabs on your loved ones (especially the elderly, even if just over the phone!), and continue to wash your hands to prevent the spread of germs.
If you have access to baseball highlights or archived games while in quarantine, we’ve found reminiscing to be somewhat helpful. Even if they are, in fact, Mets games.
