#Black Lives Matter will have presence at Yankees-Nationals Opening Day

Major League Baseball will look different when it finally returns Thursday — and that will start even before the first pitch is thrown.

With the Yankees and Nationals opening the season in Washington, there will be a Black Lives Matter/MLB stencil on the pitcher’s mound during opening weekend games throughout the league “to express support for the fight against systemic racism and injustice,” the Nationals said in a statement.

Washington reliever Sean Doolittle said he’s considering kneeling during the national anthem, as several players have done during exhibition games this week.

Gerrit Cole, who will make his long-awaited Yankee debut Thursday — weather permitting, said the team was going to meet Wednesday night about whether players would wear a patch or protest in some other way on Opening Day.

“I’m not opposed to wearing a patch,’’ Cole said on a Zoom call.

When asked about the Black Lives Matter stencil, Cole said, “It’s freedom of speech, it’s the Bill of Rights. It’s what the country is founded on, to be able to express yourself freely. I think it’s a wonderful thing.”

General manager Brian Cashman added he wouldn’t have an issue if any member of the Yankees knelt during the anthem.

“Obviously, that’s a manifestation of where our country currently is,’’ Cashman said on a Zoom call. “Our country is in many ways the greatest country in the world. In some ways, it’s broken in certain aspects where we’re not all together and not all as one. Because of that, you’re seeing demonstrations like kneeling at the anthem as part of that process. Part of our community is hurting when it shouldn’t be. It’s been ignored for such a long period of time. The great part of America is there are different ways to express yourself and different platforms to utilize how you express yourself. In some cases, it’s kneeling during the anthem. … I support the ability to protest in the way they see fit, as long as it’s in a legal and healthy way. I think there’s nothing more American than being able to express your beliefs and do it in a safe way.”

There will be plenty of eyes on what happens during the anthem.

“I’ve certainly considered it,” Doolittle said of kneeling. “I’ve been considering it, especially here over the last week. But, as a team, we’re having conversations in our clubhouse the last two days. I know the Yankees are doing the same thing. We’re obviously going first, we’re opening this thing up, so I think it’s really important for us as a league to echo what other sports leagues have done so far.”

But Cashman stressed he wanted to make sure his staff and his team were talking about the subject, as well.

“The most important aspect of all of that is to make sure the conversations are had prior to anybody making any of those decisions and make sure you have a healthy dialogue,’’ Cashman said. “And that’s what we’re trying to do.”