MLB-League proposes rigorous testing among guidelines for return
Players may have to skip the showers and spitting will not be allowed under guidelines proposed by Major League Baseball to bring America’s pastime back during the COVID-19 pandemic.
As many as 10,000 coronavirus tests would be conducted per week for participants in games, according to the report, with spitting and fistbumps prohibited, and hand sanitizing required every half-inning.
Other potential rules include swapping out baseballs after they have been touched by more than one person, the report said.
A source familiar with the matter told Reuters that the vast majority of testing would be done through saliva, as opposed to nasal swab procedures, and that multiple tests would be administered each week for both players and staff.
There will also be limits on who is allowed to sit in the dugout during games, in order to help maintain social distancing, with inactive players sitting in stands and elsewhere, six feet apart, inside otherwise empty stadiums.
The logistics of bringing back baseball, potentially as early as July, have been a topic of fierce debate among players, owners and the league
