Former MLB player Trevor Plouffe says league targeting July 1 start

Could baseball be coming back soon? A former major league player hinted on Monday that MLB is targeting a July 1 start date.

For several weeks now, MLB fans have been desperate for any kind of sign that baseball will be returning in the near future. We’ve seen lots of rumors about playing at spring training sites, playing with no fans, longer seasons, and rule changes to try to get as many games in as possible. As much as we want baseball back, trying to keep up with all the latest rumors can be exhausting.

However, if former MLB player Trevor Plouffe is to be believed, there could be a plan in place to re-start the baseball season soon.

Plouffe played parts of nine seasons in the majors from 2010-2018, primarily with the Minnesota Twins but also with the Oakland Athletics, Tampa Bay Rays, and Philadelphia Phillies. We’re unsure what his sources are, but if what he’s saying is indeed true, this is a pretty ambitious plan. There’s a lot that will have to go right for baseball to pick up again in just over five weeks; of course, we’ll have to make sure that it’s safe to start playing again. But it’s not inconceivable.

The part that seems the most far-fetched, at least compared to all the rumors we’ve been hearing, is that teams will play in their home ballparks (assuming he’s talking about major league stadiums and not “home” spring training parks). There’s nothing in the tweet about whether fans would be allowed into stadiums, though that seems unlikely at this point.

All that being said, this tweet is sure to attract a lot of attention, as fans as desperately waiting to hear concrete news of a 2020 season starting and we would really like to see our great game return again soon.

UPDATE — 7 p.m ET

Unfortunately, it appears as though this start date may not be accurate, after all.

Womp, womp.