Florida’s pro sports teams urge fans to wear masks amid pandemic
On the heels of Florida reporting 11,433 new cases of COVID-19 on Friday, all of the state’s teams in the five major North American pro sports leagues have unitied in endorsing safe practices to curb the spread of coronavirus.
The past four months have been rough for sports fans.
There’s only so many times that you can watch Ray Allen’s three-pointer in Game 6 or the 2006 Rose Bowl before the brain begins to melt. But with the NBA, WNBA and MLB all inching closer to a return, some people believe that a pre-COVID normalcy might be on the horizon.
That’s why Florida’s professional sports united for a campaign that urges fans to wear masks. Announced Friday afternoon, the initiative was supported by every team in the five major North American sports leagues that call the Sunshine State home.
This message comes on the heels of
more second nature as we go.”
With that said, intrasquad scrimmages and simulation games, similar to what they did on Thursday and Friday, will be the norm at Marlins Park for the next 10 days.
After that, they wrap up camp with a pair of road exhibition games against the Atlanta Braves on July 21 and 22 before making their way to Philadelphia for a three-game series against the Phillies that ushers in this 60-game sprint on July 24.
The exhibition games, which were announced Friday, serve as the only opportunity for either team to get into live game situations against another team prior to the season. The rest of the three-week summer camp session solely consists of intrasquad games and practices.
The July 21 game is slated for a 7:10 p.m. first pitch. The July 22 game is set to start at 4:10 p.m. Both games will be televised on Fox Sports Florida.
“Obviously, playing as a group against somebody else is really what you’re trying to get to,” Mattingly said. “I think the fact we are able to get a couple of [exhibition] games is good for us, and good for them probably, too. It just gets you closer to where you need to get to.”
They also will give fans a glimpse at what road game broadcasts will look like this year. Marlins play-byplay announcer Paul Severino and color analyst Todd Hollandsworth will call the games remotely from Marlins Park, just like they will for all road games during the 2020 season.
PRACTICE TIDBITS
Pablo Lopez and Jose Urena were the starting pitchers for Friday’s scrimmage. Lopez threw five innings, Urena four.
Relief pitchers who had time on the mound Friday: Ryan Cook, Stephen Tarpley and Aaron Northcraft threw out of the bullpen.
The format was similar to what took place Thursday: a rotating group of hitters, situational work, no full defense at any given time. More activities and true game format are expected to be added next week as they get closer to Opening Day.
The middle infield combo of shortstop Miguel Rojas and second baseman Isan Diaz looked sharp, helping turn a pair of inning-ending double plays for Lopez in the first three innings.
Some love for a couple non-roster invitees in Miami natives Sean Rodriguez and Eddy Alvarez. Both had a couple hard hits late in the scrimmage.
A programming note: There is no media access to Saturday’s practice session. Elieser Hernandez and Jordan Yamamoto are anticipated to be the starters who get extensive work on the field based on how the team has rotated players since camp started.
ROSTER UPDATES
With catcher prospect Will Banfield on the 10-day IL, the Marlins announced Friday that they added catcher Santiago Chavez to their 60-player roster pool.
The team also formally announced the signing of undrafted Florida State pitcher Antonio Velez.
Velez, a 6-1, 212-pound left-hander, primarily worked out of the bullpen in two years at FSU. He struck out 71 batters in 622⁄3 innings, walked 14 and had a 3.16 ERA.
His most memorable outing was his final one, tossing six scoreless innings with seven strikeouts against the top-ranked Florida Gators in Gainesville. He also threw 42⁄3 scoreless innings against LSU in the 2019 NCAA Super Regionals.