JUPITER, Fla. — Major League Baseball officials have spent Thursday discussing how the league should respond to the spread of the coronavirus pandemic, an ongoing conversation that is expected to result in an announcement of changes to the league's spring training plans in both Florida and Arizona. But those decisions had not been finalized by the start of Thursday's Grapefruit League game between the Cardinals and Marlins at Roger Dean Stadium.
The Cardinals and the Marlins began play — first pitch came from Adam Wainwright at 1:07 p.m. Eastern — hours after Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis asked cities and counties to postpone or cancel any mass gatherings in the next 30 days due to the spread of COVID-19, known as coronavirus.