Garett Hoffmann and Jake Saxton
Staff Writer
Due to COVID-19, the sports world has been wondering whether the NBA and NHL playoffs will happen. There is a lot of speculation about how the NFL’s season will look and if it will start in September. However, one sport that seems to be flying under the radar is baseball.
Many experts inside the Major League Baseball are predicting that they will be cutting the season in half, from 162 games to 82. The league may also create schedules that prevent teams from traveling all over the country and Canada to play the Toronto Blue Jays. Instead they will have divisional restraints to keep teams in certain regions to prevent outbreaks of COVID-19.
Many readers may be asking how will this new schedule be created? The answer is simple. Henry and Holly Stephenson, who have been creating MLB schedules since 1984 and 2004, respectively, explained that computers, with the right algorithms, will be able to do it in about five minutes. The teams will stay in their divisions. For example, the teams in the NL West consist of the Dodgers, Giants, Diamondbacks, Rockies and Padres. Three out of the five teams are from California whereas the Diamondbacks are from Arizona and the Rockies from Colorado. Even though the Colorado club is the farthest away, they will still play their division rivals. As of right now the closest sport that will be ready to get back on the ball during this crisis is Major League Baseball.
