The Washington Nationals will be without two important pieces during the coronavirus-shortened 2020 season after first baseman Ryan Zimmerman and starting pitcher Joe Ross decided not to take part in baseball this year.
Zimmeman, a long-time National and a club legend, has been keeping a diary for the Associated Press ever since the season was denied and recently expressed concern about the 2020 season considering his family situation.
“I have a 3-week-old baby,” Zimmerman wrote. “My mother has multiple sclerosis and is super high-risk; if I end up playing, I can pretty much throw out the idea of seeing her until weeks after the season is over. There’s a lot of factors that I and others have to consider. I don’t think there’s a right or wrong answer; it’s everybody’s individual choice.”
He signed a one-year, $2 million contract for the 2020 season over the offseason and said in a statement that this decision did not signify his retirement.
Ross, on the other hand, has not released any type of statement explaining his decision not to take part in the season at the current time.
Zimmerman was expected to be a designated hitter option in 2020 for the Nationals and a backup infielder, while Ross was penciled in as the fifth starter in the team’s pitching rotation.
The Nationals will instead have to look for other options to cover Zimmerman’s and Ross’s roles in 2020.
