#MLB players aren’t so sure the 2020 season will be completed

As spring training 2.0 begins, some clubhouses are filled with doubt that the season will be completed.

Cardinals reliever Andrew Miller voiced doubts regarding the season taking place, as several states continually set single-day records of new confirmed COVID-19 cases.

“I think there’s still some doubt that we’re going to have a season now,” Miller told reporters Sunday, less than three weeks before the regular season is scheduled to begin July 23. “By no means is this a slam dunk. We’re trying. We’re going to give it our best effort, but for me to sit here and say 100 percent would be a lie.”

At least seven players have already opted to sit out the season because of health concerns, including Dodgers pitcher David Price, who will likely sacrifice the roughly $11.85 million owed to him had he participated in the shortened 60-game regular season.

Nationals pitcher Sean Doolittle understands the reluctance of his peers who choose not to participate, noting the country’s controversial response to the virus and the challenges of playing a game in the midst of a pandemic.

Doolittle also said that players have not yet received the personal protective gear that were promised, highlighting what he believes is owners’ disregard for player health and safety.

“We’re trying to bring back baseball during a pandemic that’s killed 130,000 people,” Doolittle said. “We’re way worse off as a country than in March, when we shut this thing down. Look at where other developed countries are in their response to this. We haven’t done any of the things that other countries have done to bring sports back. Sports are like the reward of a functioning society, and we’re trying to bring it back, even though we’ve taken none of the steps to flatten the curve…..We just opened back up for Memorial Day. We decided we’re done with it. If there aren’t sports, it’s going to be because people are not wearing masks, because the response to this has been so politicized….

“We can’t have virus fatigue and keep thinking, ‘Well it’s been four months. We’re over it. This has been enough time, right? We’ve waited long enough. Shouldn’t sports come back now?’ No. There are things we have to do in order to bring this stuff back.”