McCoy to host Sox’ taxi squad

30 players to be in Pawtucket preparing for call up to Boston

PAWTUCKET — With a waiting list of 1,500, the addition of “Dining at the Diamond” at McCoy Stadium has proven to be a hit with fans.

Question is, will the 33 tables that have been placed around the outfield with social-distancing requirements in mind have to be packed up after the Red Sox announced Wednesday night that McCoy would serve as the primary workout facility for players who aren’t on Boston’s 2020 active roster?

On Thursday, the PawSox said they are still awaiting word from the parent club with those details going a long way in deciding the fate of Dining

on the Diamond, which will once again be sold-out this coming weekend. It will mark the fourth straight weekend that every table is accounted for during each of the three nightly sittings.

The PawSox had already announced that there would be no on-field dining sessions during the weekend of July 4. Anything after that will largely depend on when Boston’s taxi squad would start to use McCoy.

In a Zoom call with reporters Wednesday, Red Sox Chief Baseball Officer Chaim Bloom confirmed that McCoy Stadium would serve as an alternative training site.

“We’re still nailing down the exact logistics as far as how this would work, but we’re planning to use Pawtucket and

McCoy Stadium,” said Bloom. “We’re appreciative of the folks with the PawSox and also the folks in government who helped make this happen.”

The taxi squad is a pool of 30 players for the major league club to dip into in the event of injuries or sickness. Clubs have been asked to have the taxi squad train within 100 miles of the big-league city. The distance between Pawtucket and Boston certainly falls within the suggested guidelines.

It might not be the brand of baseball the PawSox were looking to build their final season at McCoy Stadium around, yet as of right now, there will be some degree of baseball activity at the ballpark located off Columbus Ave. It remains to be seen if fans will be allowed inside McCoy to watch practice or intrasquad scrimmages.

File photo There will be some baseball at McCoy Stadium this summer with the announcement that the Red Sox’ taxi squad will work out at the facility.

File photo McCoy Stadium will host the Boston Red Sox taxi squad this summer. The squad is made up of 30 players who need to be ready to be called up to the MLB squad that will play a 60-game season.