Mets vs. Marlins series in Puerto Rico canceled
New York Mets pitcher Edwin Diaz throws a bullpen session during a spring training workout, Saturday, Feb. 15, 2020, in Port St. Lucie, Fla. Credit: Newsday/Alejandra Villa Loarca
A pandemic-related inevitability became official Thursday.
The Mets’ series against the Marlins in San Juan, Puerto Rico — scheduled for April 28-30 — has been canceled, Major League Baseball announced. It will be rescheduled for dates in Miami, because the Marlins were going to be the technical home team in Puerto Rico.
Because of the worldwide coronavirus outbreak, MLB has delayed the start of the season indefinitely, which put the Puerto Rico series at obvious risk. Like the rest of the sports world, MLB said it is following recommendations from public health officials to cancel events with 50 or more people through at least May 10.
For much of the offseason, the Puerto Rico series looked as if it would be a regular-season highlight for the Mets, who hired Puerto Rico native Carlos Beltran as the first Latino manager in franchise history last November. But first they dumped Beltran as part of the fallout of the Astros' illegal sign-stealing scandal, and now the team isn’t going to Puerto Rico at all.
The Mets have two Puerto Rican players who would have been returning home: reliever Edwin Diaz and catcher Tomas Nido. They also have Seth Lugo, a Louisiana native of Puerto Rican descent who played for Puerto Rico in the 2017 World Baseball Classic.
MLB also canceled the April 18-19 series in Mexico City between the Padres and Diamondbacks. It has not announced anything regarding the Cubs-Cardinals games in London (June 13-14).
