Miami Marlins affiliate won’t start playing ball until June 15

The Miami Marlins affiliate, the Jacksonville Jumbo Shrimp have announced the team won’t play ball this season until at least June 15.

The state of the Miami Marlins minor league system is still on hold for the moment. The Jacksonville Jumbo Shrimp, the Marlins Double-A affiliate, has announced that games played this season won’t begin until at least June 15. The announcement came on Tuesday afternoon per the team’s public relations department.

“As we continue to monitor the coronavirus situation, the health and safety of our employees, players, coaches and partners remains our top priority,” said Jumbo Shrimp executive vice president/general manager Harold Craw. “We are hopeful for Jumbo Shrimp baseball and the experience of Affordable Family Fun at 121 Financial Ballpark at some point in 2020.”

The Major League season has no effective start date yet as well. The league office and all 30 MLB teams, including the Miami Marlins are working toward a plan that will allow for games to be played based on several options that have been suggested to ensure the safety of manager Don Mattingly’s team and the 29 other franchises.

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One thought is to continue to play games through both the Grapefruit and Cactus Leagues. Another would be a three-division format made up of 10 teams each. Yet another idea would be to have all 30 teams play baseball this year in Arizona.

The hope, as been reported by several outlets, is to have an abbreviated season by the first week fo July, but it has not been approved yet.

Craw, along with team owner Ken Babby, issued a statement through a Letter to the Editor in the Florida Times-Union on April 16 letting the fans know they expect baseball in Jacksonville to be played this season, but not until the time is right and the safety of everyone involved is secure.

“The Jumbo Shrimp will continue to closely monitor the developments concerning COVID-19 and will continue to give fans the most up-to-date information as it becomes available,” the public relations department announced.

The Miami Marlins have several players on their current roster who have come through Jacksonville on their way to the Majors, including Brian Anderson and Drew Steckenrider, Jordan Yamamoto, and Robert Dugger. The franchise’s top prospect, Sixto Sanchez was on the Jumbo Shrimp roster last season. Edward Cabrera figures to be the ace of the rotation this coming season. Victor Victor Mesa will once again call Jacksonville home in 2020.

Last season, the Jumbo Shrimp finished second in average home attendance in the Southern League with 4,960 per game.