We're getting towards the end of February, and spring training is in full swing around Major League Baseball. Stars have suited up for their new teams for the first time, top prospects are making a name for themselves and position battles are playing out that could have major ramifications for the season to come, while fan bases can look at that 0-0 record and dream as big as their imagination can carry them.
Unfortunately, Monday put a bit of a damper on all that spring abundance, at least in the Grapefruit League. With rain slamming the Gulf Coast of Florida on Feb. 24, games all over the state have been impacted, resulting in a slew of cancellations that will cost fans their shot at seeing some big-name stars. Below is a full list of all the games impacted.
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Why are so many spring training games canceled today, Feb. 24?
A low pressure system has brought a ton of rain to Central Florida, particularly on the Gulf Coast, with Tampa and the surrounding area expected to get as much as a half-inch of rain or so before Monday is out. As you can imagine, that's had a pretty big effect on the baseball schedule in that part of the country.
While the Cactus League out in Arizona remains unaffected, with eight games on tap on Monday including the Los Angeles Dodgers and Chicago Cubs, the Grapefruit League slight has been almost totally wiped out. While the St. Louis Cardinals and New York Mets were able to squeeze in their game before the rain arrived at Port St. Lucie, the rest of the league wasn't so lucky, with five of seven games already canceled and first pitch between the New York Yankees and Boston Red Sox at 4:05 p.m. ET in serious doubt.
Complete list of spring training games canceled on Feb. 24
While we await word on the Yankees-Red Sox tilt from Fenway South in Fort Myers (although it's not looking good right now), we do know that five scheduled Grapefruit League games this afternoon have already been canceled: Blue Jays-Tigers, Twins-Rays, Pirates-Phillies, Marlins-Astros and Braves-Orioles. The Pirates-Phillies game is particularly a bummer, as it means we won't get a look at Paul Skenes on the bump.