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Phillies, MLB face unanswered questions after coronavirus halts spring training | Extra Innings

Multiple sources speculated that players will be advised to stay in Florida and Arizona during the shutdown. “I really don’t know what’s going to happen," Jake Arrieta said.

Fans leaving Thursday's spring-training game between the Phillies and Tampa Bay Rays at Charlotte Sports Park in Port Charlotte, Fla.
Fans leaving Thursday's spring-training game between the Phillies and Tampa Bay Rays at Charlotte Sports Park in Port Charlotte, Fla.Read moreYONG KIM / Staff Photographer

Now what?

The day after an NBA player tested positive for the coronavirus and the league suspended its season, hours after the NHL and MLS did the same and the NCAA called off March Madness, Major League Baseball canceled the rest of spring training and delayed opening day by at least two weeks. The decision came down Thursday, after commissioner Rob Manfred’s midday conference call with the 30 team owners, including the Phillies’ John Middleton.

Mark it down: March 12, 2020. The day when sports, always such a great escape from real life for so many people around the world, stood down in the face of a global pandemic.

“I know sports is very important to our country — and obviously it employs a lot of people, too,” Phillies manager Joe Girardi said. "People look forward to turning a game on. I know I do. And we’re going to be without that for a while. I think it’s in our best interest to be safe rather than sorry, and eventually I believe we’ll all be back out there and the world will be normal again. But right now, we’re in a little pause.”

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— Scott Lauber (extrainnings@inquirer.com)

Phillies, MLB face unanswered questions amid coronavirus shutdown

It might have been the most frequently spoken line throughout the seven-year run of the hit television series The West Wing.

What’s next?

That’s what everyone wants to know now. With spring training on hiatus, with the season on hold, what’s next for baseball? When might play resume? And where? Will a continuation of spring training be necessary? When games are finally played, will fans be there? How much will the season be shortened, how much of a financial hit will this cause for the sport, and for how long will the effects reverberate?

Oh, and what happens in the meantime?

“We’re probably going to have a team meeting and go from there,” Phillies pitcher Jake Arrieta said. “I really don’t know what’s going to happen."

Said Girardi: “I don’t think we know a ton about what’s going to transpire. We’re waiting for more direction from the commissioner. The union and the commissioner have to discuss what’s next, what do we do next, what happens to the players, where do they go, do we have a time when we come back, is it just in limbo? All we know is [Friday] there won’t be games.”

In a statement released Thursday, the commissioner’s office said it will offer guidance “in the coming days” to teams about daily operations and workouts. The Phillies announced late Thursday that they won’t hold a formal workout or on-field activities for major or minor leaguers on Friday and Spectrum Field will be closed to fans and media.

According to multiple sources, it seems the most likely scenario is that players and essential personnel (medical and training staffs, equipment managers, etc.) will be advised to remain at spring-training sites in Florida and Arizona. But there are logistical challenges with that. Some players, to say nothing of support staffers, might prefer to go home. Many teams, including the Phillies, have pulled their scouts off the road. Would they make provisions to send other personnel home, too?

Players are not paid during spring training, and it’s not yet clear if they will be compensated for days missed during the season. The commissioner has the authority to suspend contracts during a “national emergency,” terminology used by MLB in its coronavirus announcement Thursday.

“With things being postponed, we’re still going to have to maintain our conditioning and arm conditioning,” Arrieta said. "Everyone keeps their bodies in great shape. I think keeping guys in shape and maintaining their baseball activity level won’t be a problem at all.”

Long-term, the league will monitor the situation and figures to take its cues from medical experts, in addition to state and local municipalities, many of which have canceled mass gatherings. Philadelphia Mayor Jim Kenney, for instance, is banning all events with 1,000 or more attendees.

Meanwhile, players and other team personnel remain in limbo.

“I don’t know what decision the team will make about it," said third baseman Jean Segura, whose family is with him in Florida. "At the end of the day, it’s whatever to keep the boys safe and the guys here.”

The rundown

“This is something that I think we’ll remember for the rest of our lives,” Rhys Hoskins said, and Matt Breen was there in Port Charlotte to set the scene on a historic day in a spring training unlike any other.

Aaron Nola had a stomach bug, not the flu (and certainly not coronavirus) earlier this week. He’s feeling better now, but reliever Seranthony Dominguez said he’s “really worried” about the setback in his return from last year’s elbow injury.

Thursday’s news brought a queasy feeling for Bob Brookover, who recalled some of the times that sports played second fiddle to current events. For instance, Bob was covering the Phillies in Los Angeles in April 1992 during the race riots there.

Marcus Hayes isn’t the commissioner of baseball, but he has some advice for Rob Manfred: Shut things down until April 2, begin the season April 9, and don’t let fans back into ballparks until May 1.

Let’s talk baseball. The Phillies are trying to decide between Adam Haseley and Roman Quinn in center field. They have other unresolved lineup/roster issues, too. At least they have some time to think about it.

The great Yong Kim took some of the last photos from a spring-training game this season.

Stat of the day

When was the last time a baseball season didn’t begin on time?

Try 1995, when a strike delayed opening day and the season didn’t start until late April. MLB condensed the schedule to 144 games that year, with the Atlanta Braves notching the best record in the National League (90-54) and defeating the Cleveland Indians in the World Series, which ended on Oct. 28.

“I was on the Rockies that year," Girardi recalled, “and all I remember is we opened Coors Field that year and it was freezing.”

Girardi’s memory is spot-on. It was 42 degrees and rainy at first pitch on April 26, 1995, the Rockies’ season opener against the New York Mets. The game also lasted 14 innings, and Girardi went 4-for-7 and scored four runs in Colorado’s 11-9 victory on Dante Bichette’s walkoff homer.

From the mailbag

Send questions by email or on Twitter @ScottLauber.

Question: [Austin] Listi was having a decent camp. He has power and can definitely reach the majors within a year. Question is whether or not [Rhys] Hoskins takes 1B and holds it down for the long term?" —@drstuarthoffman, via Twitter

Answer: Hi, Stuart. Lots of questions from fans this spring about Hoskins, which is reasonable given how poorly he played after the All-Star break last year. There’s no doubt he has something to prove this season.

That said, I don’t see the Phillies running from Hoskins if he starts slow. He and Aaron Nola are the pride of the farm system in recent years, and the Phillies believe he can recapture his power binge from 2017-18.

If Hoskins does struggle, I suspect they would look at Alec Bohm as a potential in-house solution at first base.