Washington Nationals star Ryan Zimmerman is still up in the air when it comes to joining his team for the 2020 coronavirus-pandemic-shortened Major League Baseball season.
Zimmerman wrote in his Associated Press diary he was still “deciding whether to play.”
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“When it comes down to it, it’s a decision not just for me, but for my family as well,” Zimmerman wrote. “I have a 3-week-old baby. My mother has multiple sclerosis and is super high-risk; if I end up playing, I can pretty much throw out the idea of seeing her until weeks after the season is over.
“There’s a lot of factors that I and others have to consider. I don’t think there’s a right or wrong answer; it’s everybody’s individual choice. At the end of the day, does a player feel comfortable going to the field every day and — in my case, more importantly — feel comfortable coming home every day and feel like they’re not putting anyone else in danger?”
Zimmeran said he didn’t have an alarmist attitude when it came to the pandemic but said he wanted to do things in a “sensible, smart way.” He wrote he was more concerned about the travel aspect of the season. He drew contracts from the NBA and NHL season because they are going to use a bubble or hub city format.
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“We’re going to be the ones out there, if we decide to play. We’re the ones taking all the risk,” he added. “If you’re going to participate, there are rules you have to follow. The ‘bubble’ is only as good as the people inside of the ‘bubble.’ It’s not like there’s going to be COVID police on our hotel floors.”
He wrote that when he starts to think about all the risks and factors, the decision whether to play becomes more “complicated.”
Should he decide to play, Zimmerman would be in his 16th season with the Nationals. He received his first World Series title last year.
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