*Photo from The Athletic*
You can count one of the newest members of the Boston Red Sox as doubtful regarding the start of the 2022 regular season. Red Sox LHP Rich Hill isn't optimistic about an on time start to spring training due to a lack of progress in negotiations between MLB and the MLBPA on a new CBA.
In an interview on the Baseball Tonight Podcast with Buster Olney, Hill said that "I'm a little discouraged because of the movement. A lot of guys get a lot less than what they deserve because teams use spring training as a backboard to use as a negotiating tool. I'm not really looking forward to pushing spring training back. I think that's what's ultimately going to happen unless something drastic happens in the next couple of weeks."
While the players association and the owners have met multiple times in the last week in an effort to increase negotiations, both sides remain far apart on key issues, the biggest obstacles to getting a deal done, despite both sides making some concessions in recent negotiating sessions. There has not been much progress because the two sides have only met a handful of times since the lockout took effect at the beginning of December.
As a 17 year veteran of baseball, Hill knows that there are repercussions if there isn't enough ramp up time to start a season. In his career, Hill has a 74-52 record with a 3.80 ERA and 1.22 WHIP, tossing a total of 1,134 2/3 innings in 125 starts and 129 relief outings, split between 11 different teams in his 17 years.
Hill went more in depth on this, saying that "Pushing spring training back, you're putting guys at risk for injury during the season. The other side of it, too, is the development of guys that are coming up through the minor leagues. Those guys are not going to be able to communicate with clubs."
As of now, pitchers and catchers are still scheduled to report to spring training on February 14, a mere 3 weeks away, as negotiations are not anywhere close to done. Spring training exhibition games are scheduled to start on February 26, and run through the end of spring camp.
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