Kansas City Royals manager Mike Matheny spoke to reporters from his home in Lee’s Summit Tuesday, a sun-lit background and the faint sound of birds chirping accompanying the sight of Matheny in a blue T-shirt and baseball cap on the computer screen during a Zoom video call.
He might as well have called the location his temporary managerial office. After all, the club’s new skipper has been forced to manage the club remotely with MLB in a holding pattern due to the COVID-19 coronavirus pandemic.
Matheny spoke optimistically about the prospect of playing baseball this season, and he admitted he was “excited” about recent reports that baseball has come up with creative plans to potentially get teams back onto the field sooner than expected. At the same time, he made sure to refer to any discussion of resuming play, potential roster sizes or what the season might look like as “speculation.”