MLB 2020
 Major League Baseball
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| season | 2020 |
| Period | July 23rd - October 28th |
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The 2020 MLB season is the 119th season of Major League Baseball and began on July 23 with the game of the New York Yankees , who won 4-1 at defending champions Washington Nationals . The season was originally supposed to start on March 26, 2020. On March 12, 2020, the MLB announced that due to the COVID-19 pandemic in the United States, the rest of the Spring Training games would be canceled and the start of the regular season would be delayed by at least two weeks. On July 7, 2020, the MLB published the schedule for the regular season, which was shortened to 60 games.
The regular season should end on September 27, 2020, the postseason should start on September 29 and end with the World Series on October 20, 2020. A potential 7th game of the World Series would take place on October 28th.
The 91st MLB All-Star Game was due to take place on July 14th at Dodger Stadium , the home of the Los Angeles Dodgers in Los Angeles , California . At the. July 3, 2020 it was announced that the All-Star Game will be canceled for the first time since 1945.
game schedule
As since 2013, the American League and the National League each consist of 15 teams, which are divided into three groups of five. The teams were scheduled to play 19 games against each of their four division opponents (76 games), plus six or seven games against the remaining 10 teams within the same league (66 games). Each team would have 142 games against teams in their own league; the remaining 20 games on the 162 schedule would have been Interleague Games . With the announcement of the new start date, the MLB announced that each team will play 60 regular season games in 2020. In order to minimize travel activities, it was announced that the games are mainly planned between teams in the same division and between the divisions of the geographically same region of the two leagues (e.g. NL-East versus AL-East). The final schedule was published on July 7, 2020.
March 26th would have been the earliest opening day in the history of the MLB, but due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the 2019 season remains the one with the earliest opening day (March 28th).
The New York Mets were scheduled to play against the Miami Marlins from April 28-30 at the Hiram Bithorn Stadium in San Juan , Puerto Rico . The series was canceled due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
In the MLB London Series on June 13th and 14th, the Chicago Cubs should face the St. Louis Cardinals . The games were to be played at the London Stadium and it would have been the second and final year of the London Series. The series was canceled due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
The New York Yankees and Chicago White Sox will play the first MLB at Field of Dreams game on August 13th. A temporary 8,000-seat stadium is being built on the farm in Dyersville where the film Field of Dreams was filmed. It will be the first MLB game played in Iowa . It is currently still open whether the game can take place.
The MLB Little League Classic will be returned to the schedule for the fourth time in a row. It will take place on August 23 at the BB&T Ballpark in Williamsport , Pennsylvania , coinciding with the Little League World Series . The Boston Red Sox will face the Baltimore Orioles in the Littel League Classic .
Rule changes due to the COVID-19 pandemic
The MLB has made some rule changes due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Designated hitter rule in the NL
For the first time since 1973, National League stadiums are played with designated hitters . The reason for the rule change, which is only valid for 2020, is the protection of the pitchers from injuries due to the greatly shortened spring training .
Free runners in extra innings
If a game goes in extra innings, the team starts attacking at the beginning of each half innings with a runner on second base. The runner is always the player who was identified last in the last inning. This is to avoid extremely long games with many extra innings. Experience from the minor leagues shows that this rule results in 93% of all games ending in the 10th or 11th inning; without free runners this is only the case in 73%.
Participating teams
For the 2020 season, the MLB has not made any changes to participating franchises or to league and division assignments.
American League venues. Divisions:  West,  Central,  East. |
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National League venues. Divisions: West, Central, East. |
Regular season
Brief explanation of game operations and table structure
The AL and NL are each divided into three divisions for game operations. The allocation is based on regional criteria: East, Central and West Division. Game operations will take place from July 23 to September 29, 2020.
The table positions are responsible for reaching the postseason : The three respective division winners and the two other best teams according to the winning percentage will play the championship in the American and National League in three rounds. The respective champions then meet in the World Series.
The ranking of the teams in the table results during the season from the current ratio of wins to games overall as the so-called winning percentage . The reason for this is the uneven distribution of the games over the calendar, so that some teams have played three or more games more than others. For example, the balance of team A with 15 wins and 15 defeats (.500 expressed as the corresponding percentage) is considered to be exactly equivalent to the balance of team B, which achieved 16 wins and 16 defeats at the same time. For the final tables, however, this is irrelevant, since all teams have played the 60 season games at the end of the season. Therefore, it is sufficient to state wins and defeats (draws are not common).
With the indication GB ( Games Behind ) it is documented how big the gap between a chaser and the first in the table is. This expresses how many victories the pursuer would theoretically need with simultaneous defeat of the leader in order to achieve a tie. The specification GB is expressed to 0.5 games: For example, if team A has ten wins and five defeats, but team B nine wins and five defeats, a win of its own (without a defeat by A) would lead to a tie.
Current status
American League
| East Division | ||||||
| franchise | W. | L. | % | GB | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| New York Yankees | 16 | 6th | 72.7% | - | ||
| Tampa Bay Rays | 14th | 9 | 60.9% | 2½ | ||
| Baltimore Orioles | 12 | 10 | 54.5% | 4th | ||
| Toronto Blue Jays | 8th | 11 | 42.1% | 6½ | ||
| Boston Red Sox | 6th | 17th | 26.1% | 10½ | ||
| Central Division | ||||||
| franchise | W. | L. | % | GB | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Minnesota Twins | 14th | 8th | 63.6% | - | ||
| Cleveland Indians | 13 | 9 | 59.1% | 1 | ||
| Chicago White Sox | 12 | 11 | 52.2% | 2½ | ||
| Detroit Tigers | 9 | 11 | 45.0% | 4th | ||
| Kansas City Royals | 9 | 13 | 40.9% | 5 | ||
| West Division | ||||||
| franchise | W. | L. | % | GB | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Oakland Athletics | 16 | 6th | 72.7% | - | ||
| Houston Astros | 11 | 10 | 52.4% | 4½ | ||
| Texas Rangers | 10 | 10 | 50.0% | 5 | ||
| Los Angeles Angels | 7th | 15th | 31.8% | 9 | ||
| Seattle Mariners | 7th | 16 | 30.4% | 9½ | ||
As of: August 17, 2020
W = Wins (victories), L = Losses (defeats),% = Winning Percentage , GB = Games Behind (behind leaders: number of necessary defeats for the leader while simultaneously winning)
National League
| East Division | ||||||
| franchise | W. | L. | % | GB | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Atlanta Braves | 14th | 10 | 58.3% | - | ||
| Miami Marlins | 9 | 7th | 56.2% | 1 | ||
| Philadelphia Phillies | 8th | 9 | 47.1% | 2½ | ||
| New York Mets | 10 | 14th | 41.7% | 4th | ||
| Washington Nationals | 8th | 12 | 40.0% | 4th | ||
| Central Division | ||||||
| franchise | W. | L. | % | GB | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Chicago Cubs | 13 | 6th | 68.4% | - | ||
| Milwaukee Brewers | 10 | 10 | 50.0% | 3½ | ||
| St. Louis Cardinals | 4th | 4th | 50.0% | 3½ | ||
| Cincinnati Reds | 9 | 11 | 45.0% | 4½ | ||
| Pittsburgh Pirates | 4th | 14th | 22.2% | 8½ | ||
| West Division | ||||||
| franchise | W. | L. | % | GB | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Los Angeles Dodgers | 17th | 7th | 70.8% | - | ||
| Colorado Rockies | 13 | 9 | 59.1% | 3 | ||
| Arizona Diamondbacks | 12 | 11 | 52.2% | 4½ | ||
| San Diego Padres | 12 | 12 | 50.0% | 5 | ||
| San Francisco Giants | 8th | 16 | 33.3% | 9 | ||
As of: August 17, 2020
W = Wins (victories), L = Losses (defeats),% = Winning Percentage , GB = Games Behind (behind leaders: number of necessary defeats for the leader while simultaneously winning)
¹ Due to a COVID-19 outbreak at the Miami Marlins , in which 17 players and coaches tested positive, eleven games have been canceled for the time being, which are to be rescheduled during the season. Affected are games of the Marlins, as well as the Philadelphia Phillies , which had played a series against the Marlins before the positive tests.
Stages
Globe Life Field
This will be the Texas Rangers' first season at Globe Life Field , which will replace Globe Life Park in Arlington . There the Rangers played a total of 26 seasons from 1994 to 2019. The first game of the Texas Rangers in the new venue against the Los Angeles Angels was supposed to take place on March 31, but could not be played due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Ultimately, the Rangers' first MLB game, a 1-0 win over Rockies , finally took place on July 24, 2020.
Individual evidence
- ↑ New York Yankees at Washington Nationals Box Score, July 23, 2020. July 23, 2020, accessed July 29, 2020 .
- ↑ Opening Day delayed at least 2 weeks; Spring training games canceled. Retrieved March 13, 2020 .
- ↑ a b Andrew Simon: MLB's 60-game schedule for 2020 unveiled. MLB, accessed July 7, 2020 .
- ↑ a b Manny Randhawa and David Adler: 2020 regular-season schedules revealed. August 12, 2019, accessed on September 14, 2019 .
- ↑ Dodgers to host All-Star Game in 2020. Accessed September 14, 2019 .
- ↑ Katherine Acquavella: MLB All-Star Game officially canceled for 2020 due to COVID-19; Dodgers plans to host in 2022. July 3, 2019, accessed July 7, 2019 .
- ↑ MLB announces 60-game season for 2020; Opening Day will be July 23 or 24. CBS, June 24, 2020, accessed on June 24, 2020 (English).
- ↑ Puerto Rico set one of Marlins' 2020 highlights. Retrieved September 14, 2019 .
- ↑ a b c MLB continues 'Field of Dreams' construction in Iowa, but will it come? Tampa Bay Times, May 15, 2020, accessed May 20, 2020 .
- ↑ London Series | London Series 2020. Accessed September 14, 2019 .
- ^ Yanks, White Sox to play at Field of Dreams. Retrieved September 14, 2019 .
- ↑ Red Sox, O's to play in '20 Little League Classic. Retrieved September 14, 2019 .
- ↑ Here's how every NL team's DH options stack up. MLB, June 23, 2020, accessed on June 25, 2020 .
- ↑ MLB finalizes 2020 rule changes, including universal DH; runner on second base to start extras. Fangraphs, June 29, 2020, accessed July 29, 2020 .
- ↑ Jon Tyler: So Just How Much Less Baseball Will the New Extra Innings Rule Give Us? CBS, June 25, 2020, accessed July 29, 2020 .
- ↑ Ray Sanchez and David Close: Miami Marlins' season on hold after more players test positive for Covid-19. CNN, July 29, 2020, accessed July 29, 2020 .
- ↑ Globe Life Field. Retrieved September 14, 2019 .
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