Morning Mound Visit: Baseball is coming back but the coronavirus never left

Updated 2020 ZiPS; the Phillies outbreak raises questions; a softball team takes a stand

Dan Szymborski | FanGraphs: Now that we officially know exactly how long the season will be,* it’s time to revisit the ZiPS projections. Between the Orioles, Tigers, and Mariners, there’s going to be at least one team that doesn’t win 20 games. There’s also a strong chance for upsets in divisions that were supposed to be locked up.

*So long as COVID-19 doesn’t shut the season down again.

Marc Carig and Matt Gelb | The Athletic $: The negotiations to bring back baseball were predicated on the hope that the spread of COVID-19 would slow, but that, uh, hasn’t been the case. 12 players and staffers in the Phillies organization have tested positive for coronavirus which highlights the dangers of staging a baseball season in a country that’s trying to pretend the pandemic doesn’t exist.

Natalie Weiner | New York Times: All 18 players for Scrap Yard Fast Pitch, an independent softball team, quit after the owner of the team bragged to Donald Trump on Twitter that his team was standing for the national anthem. Players were understandably angry for the owner implying that they didn’t support the Black Lives Matter movement