When the A’s left the Bay Area for Los Angeles on Monday, they effectively entered the playoff bubble — for as long as their run lasts.
As part of Major League Baseball’s plan to hold its postseason amid the coronavirus pandemic, qualified and contending teams — like the A’s, who’ve clinched the AL West — will quarantine in hotels for a week leading up to the playoffs, which begin next Tuesday in the AL.
That includes teams playing at home. So after Thursday’s series finale against the Dodgers, the A’s will return to the Bay Area and head straight for the team hotel rather than their individual homes. They’ll stay there while finishing the regular season with a home series against Seattle and through their first-round playoff series at the Coliseum.
“It’s just going to be like you’re on a constant road trip,” manager Bob Melvin said. “There’s only certain times you can be at the ballpark — you go from the hotel to the ballpark and the ballpark to the hotel. And everybody’s aware of that now.”
After the first round, MLB will conduct the playoffs at neutral sites. The two AL Division Series will take place at Dodger Stadium in Los Angeles and Petco Park in San Diego and the AL Championship Series at Petco Park. The World Series will be played at Globe Life Field in Arlington, Texas, with Game 1 set for Oct. 20.
Teams that make a deep playoff run, as the A’s hope to do, could spend upwards of a month in hotels and under bubble restrictions. Players reportedly can have family members join them in the bubble after a quarantine period. Overall, several A’s said they don’t expect the situation to be a huge change from already abnormal circumstances this season.
“The way I view it is we’ve kind of been in a bubble the entire time,” utilityman Chad Pinder said. “For the most part, every single player hasn’t done anything but go home or to their hotel. ... No one’s going to eat. Most people aren’t really even going grocery shopping; they’re getting it delivered or eating at the field. So I think in terms of thinking about it as a bubble now, the only thing that’s different is we are getting tested every single day — and we’re told not to go anywhere else.”
Added right fielder Stephen Piscotty: “I think the last few weeks we’ve been on the road have been virtually bubbles, with basically hall monitors and people making sure that we’re not leaving and that sort of thing. So I think we’ve gotten a taste of what it’s like and gotten used to it.”
After the Marlins and Cardinals had large outbreaks early in the season, MLB reportedly issued tighter health protocols that included requiring face coverings in hotels on the road and staff members and players to notify a team official if they intended to leave the hotel. Players already were limited in how much time they could spend at the ballpark on game days and the A’s have staggered bus times on the road and arranged hotel setups to aid physical distancing.
Outfielder Mark Canha said his understanding is the bubble will be “a little more restrictive … basically just stay in the hotel and go back and forth from the hotel to the ballpark. So, a little less freedom.
“You’ve got to just follow the rules. I think that’s one thing we’ve learned in this time is there’s a lot of rules and it’s different and we’ve got to follow the rules just so we can make this thing happen and keep playing, so it doesn’t get messed up. I think it’s just not, like, super-fun, but nothing about this year is normal, and just do what they tell us to do.”
In theory, MLB’s bubble will lessen risks of virus exposure amid an impacted postseason that has no off-days during series until the World Series. A positive test — or worse, an outbreak — could require postponements or upend the schedule. The A’s did not play for five days after pitcher Daniel Mengden tested positive Aug. 29 on a road trip in Houston.
“I think with it being the playoffs … we’re just going to do whatever we can to play this postseason and make sure it’s safe,” Piscotty said. “It’s one month. We’re happy to make those sacrifices in order to go all the way and win a World Series. So it’ll be a bit of an adjustment but I think we’re ready for it and we kind of know what to expect already.”
Matt Kawahara covers the A’s for The San Francisco Chronicle. Email: mkawahara@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @matthewkawahara
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September 23, 2020 at 05:28AM
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