SCOTTSDALE, Ariz. – Arizona Diamondbacks catcher Carson Kelly and manager Torey Lovullo shared a hug, a grin and a few slaps on the back under the bright blue sky the Cactus League is known for providing.
The bickering is over. Major League Baseball is back.
A day after owners and players reached an agreement to end a 99-day lockout, all 30 MLB teams’ spring training camps opened across Arizona and Florida. Now the four-week sprint begins in earnest to get ready for an April 7 opening day.
“We’ve been waiting for this for a while,” Diamondbacks infielder Josh Rojas said before Friday’s workout. “It’s good we got everything done. I did my best to stay ready for this day, whenever it came. It happened fast.”
Cleveland ace Shane Bieber limbered up in Guardians gear, Toronto Blue Jays star Vladimir Guerrero Jr. began taking grounders and new St. Louis Cardinals manager Oliver Marmol signed autographs as spring training for major leaguers finally began.
At the complex in Goodyear that Cleveland shares with the Cincinnati Reds, some big names got loose. Bieber, the 2020 AL Cy Young Award winner, and All-Star third baseman José Ramírez were among the players sporting Guardians garb who went through light workouts after check-in physicals. The team formally changed its name from Indians after last season.
José Berríos and Bo Bichette were among those joining Guerrero in getting busy at the Blue Jays’ camp in Dunedin, Florida. Sunday is the mandatory reporting date for players, but many were eager to get to to work early.
Rojas was among a large contingent of Diamondbacks players who reported to camp in Scottsdale. Like many players, he had been attending informal workouts at various fields in Arizona while labor talks intensified. The union had even set up a makeshift base in Mesa at a multipurpose sports facility, but that was starting to clear out Friday as players reported to their regular camps.
“We did a really good job staying ready,” Rojas said. “There were lots of places where 15, 20, 30 guys were meeting up, running our own practices. Groundballs, live bullpens, live at-bats, hitting on the field.”
In Tampa, Florida, New York Yankees star DJ LeMahieu was among a multiteam group working out for the last time at a high school field less than a mile from the Yankees’ complex. LeMahieu hugged and shook hands with some of the other players after the session.
“For sure, officially the last unofficial workout,” he said.
In Jupiter, Florida, St. Louis Cardinals outfielders Harrison Bader and Tyler O’Neill were at Roger Dean Stadium, which the team shares with the Miami Marlins. Last week, New York Mets star Max Scherzer was at the ballpark, too – as part of the negotiating teams working on a new collective bargaining agreement, a process ultimately wrapped up in New York.
“It’s good to be back, to be out here, fans, everything. Back is all you can ask for,” Marlins outfielder and first baseman Garrett Cooper said. “I’m glad it all came together and we’re going to finish 162 games. That was big for a lot of people just to play a full season in front of everybody and to be back here with COVID and all that stuff past us. Just to have a normal 162 games is big for us.”
On this day, with temperatures in the 80s under partly sunny skies on Florida’s east coast, most everyone seemed ready to turn the talk from the CBA to ERA and RBIs.
“Fans have been through quite a bit lately,” Texas Rangers president Jon Daniels said.
Said Yankees slugger Luke Voit: “I just didn’t want to lose fans. They deserve for us to be out there already.”
Ron Hoskins and his son Shawn had made the trek from St. Louis to Jupiter two weeks ago when it appeared MLB and the players’ union were close to reaching a deal. The settlement came too late for them to see any Grapefruit League play – they’re scheduled to return home Saturday, and the exhibition season begins next Thursday.
“Unfortunately, I will not be able to see a spring training game here this year,” Hoskins said.
The trip wasn’t a complete loss. Donning his white Yadier Molina replica jersey, Hoskins wheeled Shawn, who has Down syndrome, to the ballpark. They were among a group of a dozen or so fans and autograph seekers waiting outside the gates, hoping to catch a glimpse of anything related to Major League Baseball.
While they didn’t see any MLB players, Hoskins and his son got to meet Marmol, who was promoted from bench coach to Cardinals manager after last season. Reaching through the gate, Marmol squatted and reached his arm through the fence to sign the shirt of 37-year-old Shawn.
“I liked it,” Shawn said.
Cardinals CEO Bill DeWitt was disappointed to hear Hoskins and his son will miss out.
“Sorry it worked out this way. It’s too bad they can’t stay a few more days and see the workouts and so forth. It’s obviously disappointing that we didn’t start on time,” DeWitt said.
With the labor dispute over, many players had business to do. Freddie Freeman, the Atlanta Braves’ longtime first baseman who last fall helped them win the World Series for the first time since 1995, was among more than 130 free agents without a contract as camps opened.