At this point, if you do not want Major League Baseball back, you are probably in the minority. It could be coming back soon, according to one individual, but another individual thinks differently.
On Monday evening, former major leaguer Trevor Plouffe tweeted, "I just heard from multiple sources that on June 10th, Spring Training 2 will start. July 1st will be Opening Day and all teams will be playing at their home ballparks."
Plouffe was drafted in Round 1 (20th overall) of the 2004 MLB Draft by the Minnesota Twins. Across nine MLB seasons, he hit .242 with 106 home runs and 379 runs batted in 2,933 at-bats.
Plouffe spent time with the Twins, Oakland Athletics, Tampa Bay Rays and Philadelphia Phillies. His best season came in 2015 with Minnesota, when he hit 22 home runs and 86 runs batted in. His last MLB appearance came on July 26, 2018 with Philadelphia.
In the tweet, Plouffe said that he would be discussing it on the next episode of Talkin' Baseball, a podcast that Plouffe makes weekly appearances on.
One veteran baseball writer has different sources with different indications, however. Keith Law, who is currently writing for The Athletic, debunked Plouffe's optimistic news.
Law, a former baseball writer for ESPN, indirectly responded to Plouffe's tweet about an hour later. He tweeted, "There's no proposed date for the MLB season to start. That rumor running around today is false. Sorry."
Law proceeded to clash with Twitter users who questioned the coronavirus' severity and those who did not see a problem with a return to sports with and/or without capacity crowds.
He even responded to a user by saying, "Hey, I'd love to know when baseball will be back too, but this rumor was arrant nonsense and it took me about five minutes to debunk it with sources who'd know."
Shortly after Law's initial tweet debunking Plouffe's rumor, another reputable source chimed in in favor of Plouffe.
Jessica Kleinschmidt, a baseball writer for NBC Sports, quoted Plouffe's tweet and said, "For what it's worth, I was told the same timeline."
I want baseball back as much as the next person. The Pirates are not expected to be contenders at all this year, but Opening Day and a new campaign brings a renewal of hope every year. Even if Opening Day comes just five days before my birthday (July 6) this year, I can deal with that.
In a battle of blue checkmarks, it will be interesting to see how this plays out. I am not doubting either Plouffe or Law, given the fact that both an MLB player and a longtime MLB writer are bound to have plenty of credible sources.
For my sanity's sake, I want to side with the former third baseman and hope what he is saying is absolutely true.
My fingers are crossed. I hope Trevor Plouffe comes through in the clutch. We shall see.
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