With Major League Baseball suspending spring training and the start of the regular season unclear, Cincinnati Reds pitchers Trevor Bauer and David Carpenter are trying to organize a sandlot baseball game in Arizona to pass the time.
Carpenter reached out to Bauer on Twitter on Friday and received an enthusiastic response.
@BauerOutage you think we could get some of the guys together at a random field in PHX and have a pickup baseball game, sandlot style?
— David Carpenter (@DCarpenter29) March 13, 2020
I’m 100000000000000% in https://t.co/RKYX8kSe8l
— Trevor Bauer (@BauerOutage) March 13, 2020
Bauer invited any major or minor league players in Arizona to play, saying everyone would be miked up for a broadcast through his website, Momentum.
Other players — including Cleveland Indians pitcher Mike Clevinger, Detroit Tigers pitcher James Russell and San Diego Padres outfielder Tommy Pham — followed up to say they were on board.
No date or time has been announced, but Bauer tweeted late Friday that “this is happening.”
With the Reds closing their complex through the weekend, players were given a choice of staying in Arizona, going to Cincinnati or going to their offseason homes. Players who elect to stick around Goodyear, Arizona, can have informal, voluntary workouts with access to team medical facilities and training staff.
Bauer also addressed his thoughts on being in Arizona amid the coronavirus pandemic in a video tweeted by Momentum.
“Another thing that’s on my mind is all the people that work with the organizations — the support staff, clubhouse guys, video guys, all the people that work at the stadiums, people that work in spring training — with games being postponed, are they getting paid?” Bauer said. “Are players getting paid? We don’t know if we’re getting paid. … If that extends out a month, two months, what are those people going to do?”