Morning Mound Visit: A look at how MLB’s health and safety plan evolved

Emma Baccellieri | Sports Illustrated: In late May, MLB composed a 67-page health and safety manual for playing the season under the threat of COVID-19. Since then, the manual has grown to 101 pages. Emma Baccellieri read the whole thing to see what changed so you don’t have to.

Jon Tayler | FanGraphs: Of all the rule changes coming in the shortened 2020 season, beginning extra innings with a runner on second is easily the least popular. With 60 games in less than 70 days, it makes sense to prohibit #WeirdBaseball, but rooting for less baseball comes with cognitive dissonance. How much less baseball will there be because of this rule? Jon Tayler has your answer.

Devan Fink | Cover Those Bases: One way that baseball differs from the other major sports is that one player can’t carry a team to greatness. LeBron James can (almost) turn any team into a playoff contender, but the same can’t be said of Mike Trout. In a 60-game season, one player going bananas can have a much greater impact.