The Good, Bad and Weird of MLB’s Start to Historic 60-Game Season

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Julio Cortez/Associated Press

There was no way that a 60-game MLB season played in empty stadiums under the shadow of a global pandemic was going to feel normal.

And so far, it hasn’t.

From recent, troubling COVID-19 test results to major injuries, we’ve seen the bad. We’ve also seen the good in the form of early breakout performances and a trailblazing coach. And we’ve witnessed the weird, with cardboard fans and a club forced to leave its country.

Let’s examine all of the above and more as we await further twists in this historic campaign.

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Ross D. Franklin/Associated Press

First, to state the obvious: We have baseball (for now).

After months of contentious negotiations between owners and players and justifiable worries about playing during the COVID-19 pandemic, the sport came back. It’s debatable whether MLB handled this correctly from a safety standpoint, and we’ll get into that momentarily.

But the green grass, the popping gloves and the cracking bats were a welcome diversion.

As former MLB Commissioner A. Bartlett Giamatti once observed, baseball “blossoms in summer, filling the afternoons and evenings…”

For people cooped up in their homes and confronting the coronavirus pandemic, the return of the national pastime provided at least some semblance of normalcy.

Mostly, we really missed the game.

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Ashley Landis/Associated Press

Baseball’s decision to eschew a self-contained model similar to the NBA’s “bubble” carried risks.

Some of those risks have already become reality.

As of Monday, 14 members of the Miami Marlins team and staff had tested positive for COVID-19. On Tuesday, Fox Sports’ Ken Rosenthal reported four more Marlins players tested positive. 

That forced Miami to postpone games against the Baltimore Orioles. It also postponed games between the Philadelphia Phillies and New York Yankees, since the Phillies recently played Miami (so far, no Phillies players or staff have tested positive).

In a statement, Marlins CEO Derek Jeter called the move, “the correct decision to ensure we take a collective pause and try to properly grasp the totality of this situation.”

On Tuesday, all Marlins games through Sunday were postponed, and the schedule was reshuffled so the Yankees would play the Orioles.

Is canceling the 2020 season the next logical step? Commissioner Rob Manfred downplayed that possibility:

“I don’t put this in the nightmare category. We don’t want any player to get exposed. It’s not a positive thing, but I don’t see it as a nightmare. We built the protocols to allow us to continue to play. That’s why we have the expanded rosters. That’s why we have the expanded pools of additional players. We think we can keep people safe and continue to play.”

That might be wishful thinking. We’ll have to wait and see. But if this Marlins incident is less an outlier and more the norm, MLB is on tenuous ground to say the least.

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Marcio Jose Sanchez/Associated Press

We knew it would be odd to watch games without fans…and we were correct. 

The play-by-play announcers and color commentators—calling the games from afar and away from each other—are doing their best. 

The walk-up songs and organ music sound almost normal, but with a disquieting, eerie echo.

The ambient crowd noise layered over the action offers an initial sense of normalcy, but after a while, it starts to feel like the canned laughter in a sitcom. 

Then there are the oversized cardboard-cutout fans. Ordinary folks, cute kids, dogs, celebrities, former players—they’re ostensibly better than vacant seats.

But eventually, it becomes a disquieting distraction—a persistent reminder that this season is somehow off, gimmicks and all.

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Gregory Bull/Associated Press

Like every season, the 2020 campaign features an array of young, up-and-coming stars. Two, in particular, have shot out of the gate.

In the American League, it’s Chicago White Sox center fielder Luis Robert.

The 22-year-old hit .328 with 32 home runs and 36 stolen bases in the minor leagues last season and has translated that success to The Show. Through his first three games, Robert went 4-for-11 with a double and a home run.

“I’ve been feeling good at home plate, good in the outfield, good with the team,” Robert told reporters via a translator. “I’m feeling pretty comfortable at this level.”

In the Senior Circuit, San Diego Padres shortstop Fernando Tatis Jr. has picked up where he left off in 2019 before a back injury derailed his rookie season. In his first 15 at-bats, the 21-year-old tallied five hits, including two doubles and a triple.

Both the White Sox and Padres could compete for the postseason, particularly with the 16-team format, which means these emerging superstars may get to shine under the October lights.

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Julio Cortez/Associated Press

If you root for baseball in general rather than a particular team, you’ll agree it’s better when the best players are healthy and on the field.

So it was bad news when reigning American League Cy Young Award winner Justin Verlander landed on the injured list with a forearm strain.

Initial reports suggested Verlander could be lost for the season. He disputed that notion. But even if he’s “only” out for several weeks, that will be a staggering blow for the Houston Astros in a short season.

Yes, the ‘Stros were positioned to be villains in the wake of their sign-stealing scandal. But no one should hope for a star to be sidelined.

Elsewhere, Texas Rangers right-hander Corey Kluber was shut down with a shoulder injury that won’t require surgery but will put him out of commission for at least four weeks.

The two-time AL Cy Young Award winner was trying to make a comeback with Texas after an injury-marred 2019 season with Cleveland.

That’s lousy news for Rangers fans, and for anyone who wanted another iteration of full-strength Klubot.

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Kathy Willens/Associated Press

While it’s bad when star players go down with injuries, it’s nice when they come back. So far, a pair of sluggers have done exactly that in the Big Apple.

New York Yankees basher Giancarlo Stanton played a mere 18 games in 2019 because of injuries. But after getting himself healthy during the COVID-19 layoff, he has started 2020 with a smash.

Through his first three games, he collected four hits in nine at-bats, including a double and two tape-measure home runs.

“He looks great,” Yankees skipper Aaron Boone told reporters. “I feel like he’s just in such a good frame of mind. … I’m really excited about where he’s at right now.”

Meanwhile, in Queens, Yoenis Cespedes offered an “I’m back” moment when he homered in his first MLB game since July 20, 2018. It was a no-doubt solo blast, which plated the only run in the Mets’ 1-0 victory over the Atlanta Braves on Opening Day.

After missing slightly more than two years due to injuries, it was a memorable moment for the Cuban masher and two-time All-Star.

If Cespedes can keep it up, it’ll be good for the Mets and excellent entertainment for the rest of us.

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Nick Wass/Associated Press

Concerns surrounding COVID-19 prevented the Toronto Blue Jays from playing their home games at the Rogers Centre in 2020.

After looking for a home south of the border, they finally found one at Sahlen Field in Buffalo, New York.

The Jays won’t play a home game in Buffalo until Aug. 11 as the facility is upgraded. Even when they do, it’ll be a step removed from their typical surroundings.

But with fanless games already creating a strange environment, the young Jays could use this as an opportunity to embrace the chaos of the 2020 season and make a Cinderella run slightly ahead of schedule. Vladimir Guerrero Jr. and Co. playing in October? Sign us up.

In a year when lots of unexpected things are happening, add this to the list.

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Jeff Chiu/Associated Press

Alyssa Nakken broke a seemingly impenetrable glass ceiling with the San Francisco Giants in 2020, becoming the first full-time female coach in major league history.

A former college softball standout, Nakken joined the team’s staff in January after spending the past six years in various roles in the organization. She became the first woman to coach on the field in an MLB game when she assumed first-base duties in an exhibition contest on July 20.

“We just see Alyssa as an especially effective coach, period,” Giants manager Gabe Kapler told reporters. “At this point, she’s so ingrained in our culture and so ingrained as a member of our coaching staff that she’s just going around making players and staff members better.”

Nakken should ultimately be viewed and judged as a coach. But for now, let’s pause and reflect upon the groundbreaking nature of her achievement.

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Mark J. Terrill/Associated Press

Just as Opening Day was about to commence, MLB announced plans to expand the postseason from 10 teams to 16.

Every division winner, every second-place team and two third-place teams in each league will qualify for the playoffs. (Here’s a more detailed primer.)

It’s a seismic shift for the game. It’s good news for clubs on the bubble and possibly bad news for teams such as the Los Angeles Dodgers that were built to win it all and must now face an unprecedented gauntlet of small-sample, anything-can-happen October series.

Assuming things return to some semblance of normalcy next year, we’ll probably go back to the 10-team format. But the current collective bargaining agreement expires after 2021, so this 16-team permutation could become the norm.

Buckle up, purists.

No matter what, it will offer chaos and intrigue aplenty, which essentially sums up 2020—for the good, the bad and the weird.

All statistics courtesy of Baseball Reference.