Washington Nationals: Ryan Zimmerman voices what most players are thinking

Even though Major League Baseball has agreed to play a 60-game schedule this year, some players including Ryan Zimmerman, question if they will play.

They call him Mr. National and Mr. Walk-Off, though they may not be calling his name over the loudspeaker this year as the scheduled hitter. Major League Baseball is set to return in late July whether all its players are there to play or not. Washington Nationals first baseman Ryan Zimmerman may not.

As a whole, the league has jumped the biggest hurdle, in which they will be having a baseball season in 2020. Individually we will see if all the players return to the playing field.

Zimmerman took to his Associated Press diary to publicize what surely several other baseball players are thinking. Risking one’s health, the health of family members, or giving up seeing loved ones for an extended period of time, to play a game.

Zimmerman is not the face of the game like a Mike Trout or Javier Baez. He is the face of the Nationals franchise and after fifteen years playing in the nation’s capital, his voice carries some weight.

The reality of exposing himself to the COVID-19 virus while he has an infant baby at home and a mother diagnosed with multiple sclerosis has become a deciding factor on whether Zimmerman will play baseball this season.

"At the end of the day, does a player feel comfortable going to the field every day and — in my case, more importantly — feel comfortable coming home every day and feel like they’re not putting anyone else in danger?"

I am not nieve to think Zimmerman is the only baseball player to ask himself this very question. Don’t get me wrong, I do believe the country needs baseball right now. For a player to put their health and wellbeing on the line and jeopardize those around them as well, the country’s entertainment needs should not enter the mix, however.

Players should take this decision seriously and they should not be subjected to public scrutiny if they choose to sit this one out. Should a player, Zimmerman or another Major Leaguer, decide to choose his family over his profession, he will most debatably be guilty in the court of public opinion. Jeers of how much money they make (or will be turning down) will overshadow the calls for what really matters.

Ryan Zimmerman, if you choose to spend more time with your wife, three-week-old baby, and mother, I support you.

For more information about COVID-19, visit the CDC’s website or the website for your state’s Department of Health.