The Toronto Blue Jays may have found their new home for the 2020 season.
After the Canadian government denied the team's request for approval to play games in Toronto's Rogers Centre due to concerns over teams crossing the border amid the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic, the club has reportedly been granted approval to play a majority of their home games at PNC Park in Pittsburgh, according to Sportsnet. CBS Sports' Jim Bowden confirmed Sportsnet's report.
There is a plan in place between the Blue Jays and Pirates for how the two clubs will play out of the same ballpark, the Blue Jays are still awaiting official approval from the local and state officials, according to Sportsnet's Shi Davidi.
The Blue Jays had initially looked into playing their home games at their Triple-A affiliate ballpark in Buffalo, New York, their spring training ballpark in Dunedin, Florida. and Camden Yards, home of the Orioles in Baltimore, Maryland. There were concerns over ballpark adjustments that would be necessary in Buffalo and Florida's ongoing COVID-19 surge for their spring training site.
The Blue Jays are set to begin their 2020 campaign Friday at Tropicana Field to face the Tampa Bay Rays. Toronto's first "home" game is scheduled for July 29. In the league's new geographically-based schedule for this season, the Blue Jays and Pirates are not part of the same region. Due to efforts to contain extra exposure to COVID-19, teams will not venture outside their "regions."
Each MLB team will play 40 of their 60 games against opponents from their own division, so the Blue Jays and Pirates will play 10 games against their AL East and NL Central rivals, respectively. Then, the 20 remaining games are going to be those from the opposite league's corresponding geographic division, meaning AL East will face NL East; NL Central will face AL Central. The 2020 MLB postseason will maintain its 10-team format, with two Wild Card teams from each league.
As far as the Pirates and Blue Jays 2020 home schedule goes, the two clubs are currently schedule to play their home games on the same date seven times in the schedule, but four of the overlapped "home" games are not until the end of September. As of now, the two clubs both have scheduled home games for July 29, Sept. 8, 9, 21, 22, 23 and 24. It's surely going to be a logistics situation for the league, and they're going to have to figure out the workaround(s) as soon as possible.
While the MLB 2020 schedule is set, and teams are nearly complete with their second round of spring training, there are still five off-the-field questions facing the league in this 60-game shortened season. In the meantime, CBS Sports MLB staff has made their picks for divisions, World Series, MVP, Cy Young awards and more.
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