The Nationals’ first road game is against the Blue Jays. Where? Good question.

How the situations were similar: In both, professional baseball teams lobbied governments amid the complicated process of restarting a sport during the novel coronavirus pandemic.

“It kind of stinks to have to change up the schedule almost immediately and not being able to play in Toronto,” Nationals shortstop Trea Turner said Saturday, acknowledging the new link between his team and the Blue Jays. The Nationals’ first road trip is to face the Blue Jays on July 29, which will also be Toronto’s home opener. The Blue Jays are now scrambling to pick between Buffalo and Dunedin, Fla., for the coming season. And that leaves the Nationals unsure of where they will head for the sixth and seventh games of their schedule.

Both options have obvious flaws. Buffalo has only a Class AAA stadium; Dunedin, where Toronto holds spring training, is in a state that is a persisting coronavirus hot spot. Florida reported 12,478 new cases Sunday, and state data showed 1,637 coronavirus patients had been hospitalized in the previous five days. When the Nationals explored alternate sites, their spring training facility in West Palm Beach, Fla., was a last resort behind their Class A stadium in Fredericksburg, Va.

The Blue Jays’ choice will affect players who set up temporary housing in Toronto and will force many others to relocate. The Nationals are only the first opponent connected to the sharp shift in plans.

“I know those guys are probably a little bit more upset about it because they want to play in their home ballpark where they’re comfortable and whatnot,” Turner said. “There are going to be a lot of adjustments this year, and hopefully they can figure that out so we can game-plan mentally, knowing where we’re going and what we’re doing.”

In rejecting the Blue Jays’ plan to play in Toronto, the Canadian government cited cross-border travel and potential exposure in American hot spots as reasons. The Blue Jays will travel to face the Tampa Bay Rays to begin the season, then jet up to Washington for two games. After that, they will host the Nationals in a location that’s to be determined.

The Canadian government has allowed the Blue Jays to train in Toronto this month, but there has been friction. Canadian sports outlet TSN reported players could face jail time or up to a $550,000 fine if spotted outside of the team facility or hotel during the season. Infielder Travis Shaw pushed back, calling that “a bit much,” but later apologized. It all led to the decision Saturday that set the Blue Jays into unwanted motion. And the reverberations were felt in Washington.

Max Scherzer, the Nationals’ ace and a prominent member of the players’ union, treated it like other obstacles: His approach with the media has been to take each element of the 2020 season in stride. The health and safety protocols verge on burdensome. Some rules are forcing players to kick career-long habits. Every other day, to limit the potential spread of the virus, players have to spit in a cup so their saliva can be tested at a lab in Utah or New Jersey.

Not knowing where the club will fly in 10 days? For Scherzer, that feels like par for the course.

“There’s something new that is going to pop up every single day. That’s the reality of the state of this world,” he said Saturday. “We’re no different. We’re going to have to face challenges every single day. And whatever the challenge, wherever we have to play, wherever we have to go, just keep a smile on your face because everybody’s got to be in the situation.”

The Nationals’ first taste of travel comes Monday, for an exhibition against the Orioles in Baltimore. They will be screened before boarding a bus in Washington, then screened again before entering Camden Yards later in the afternoon. Major League Baseball’s regular screening process includes a temperature check and a symptom questionnaire. Some players wanted to drive themselves, but Manager Dave Martinez asked everyone to ride up together, figuring that’s the easiest way to go through an unfamiliar process.

Since summer training began July 3, the Nationals have practiced only in Washington. Most players are living around the ballpark and can walk to and from work. That has helped an abnormal situation become routine. But factoring travel into the equation is risky and complicated. The uncertainty with the Blue Jays only heightens that.

The Nationals still have to book a block of hotel rooms, get their staff up to speed with MLB regulations and coordinate two days of travel between their lodging and whatever ballpark the Blue Jays choose. Then there’s figuring out food because players can’t leave the hotel during road trips. Then there’s planning travel to Miami, of all places, which is where the Nationals head after that two-game road series with the Blue Jays.

In 2019, on their way to the World Series title, Martinez took an unflinching one-day-at-a-time approach with his players and the press. He vowed, over and over, to focus solely on the game at hand. He repeatedly set the goal to “go 1-0 today.” So it shouldn’t be a surprise that, when asked about playing in Buffalo or Dunedin — or wherever else — Martinez didn’t waver.

“First, obviously, it stinks for Toronto that they don’t get to play at their home stadium,” he said before squaring his answer to a more immediate task. “But for me, our concern is getting ready for our home opener here. And wherever they end up playing, we just have to go there and play.”

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Source:WP