The Morning Journal (Lorain, OH)
Indians eye Classic Park as training site
Minor league baseball appears to be a casualty of the novel coronavirus, but Classic Park in Eastlake is going to be a busy place nonetheless.
The Indians “are leaning” toward using the home stadium of their Lower-A Lake County Captains, only 17 miles from Progressive Field, as the alternate spring training site for the Tribe’s taxi squad, a team spokesman said on June 25.
Canal Park in Akron, home to the Indians’ Double-A Akron RubberDucks, is 38 miles from Progressive Field. Canal Park is also under consideration to host the taxi squad workouts, but the convenient proximity to Progressive Field makes Classic Park more attractive. A final decision is expected by June 26.
Earlier this month, while the owners and players unsuccessfully bargained to reach an agreement to get the season underway, Major League Baseball instructed each team to find a site within 100 miles of its home stadium where prospects can work out while the big league club is going through spring training 2.0 at its home stadium.
Per the June 23 announcement that there will be a 2020 baseball season, players will resume spring training July 1.
Details are still being finalized, but “around 30” players will be at Classic Park while the Indians go through a threeweek spring training downtown, the spokesman said.
These are uncharted waters for baseball. Teams will play 60 games in 2020 instead of the normal 162. Teams will start the season with 30-man rosters. The rosters will be trimmed to 28 two weeks later and then cut again to 26 two weeks
after that.
The season is set to begin July 23 or 24.
Three taxi squad players — one must be a catcher — will accompany the big league club on road trips. That means the taxi squad players will likely continue to work out at Classic Park when the regular season games are being played, although that has yet to be determined, the team
spokesman said.
The taxi squad is essential since the Indians won’t be able to simply call up a player from the Triple-A Columbus Clippers if a player on their roster is injured or tests positive for COVID-19 because there currently is no plan to begin minor league play. A “farm team” less than 30 minutes from Progressive Field is also a convenient resource
if a player on the big-league club slumps or needs to be replaced temporarily, as for the birth of a child, for example.
It is unlikely fans will have the chance to watch the workouts or intrasquad games the taxi squad would play at Classic Park because of the COVID-19 pandemic. As of now regular season games will be played without fans in the stands.