Nationals' Ryan Zimmermann Still Undecided on Playing 2020 Season amid Pandemic

Washington Nationals first baseman Ryan Zimmerman is still deciding if he will take part in the 2020 MLB season amid the coronavirus pandemic.  

In a first-person article for the Associated Press, Zimmerman wrote that he's "still deciding whether to play" because of concerns for himself and his family:

"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?"

Zimmerman did note he doesn't think "we all need to hide in our houses until a vaccine is found," but "we just need to do things in a sensible, smart way."

Another concern highlighted by Zimmerman was the potential amount of travel involved with a 60-game schedule, which he notes would presumably feature 30 road games for every team. 

"I don't know how long the trips are going to be, but it's a significant amount of travel and staying in hotels and going places that are outside of where we've been allowed to go the last few months," he wrote.

MLB and the MLB Players Association announced on June 24 a resolution to their ongoing issues and said "players are reporting to camp."

Spring training is scheduled to begin on July 1, with the regular season on track to begin on either July 23 or 24. 

Zimmerman has spent his entire career with the Nationals since being drafted No. 4 overall by the organization in 2005.