MLB fans are awaiting baseball's return after a nearly four-month long delay to the start of the 2020 season due to the coronavirus. The season will start -- without fans in attendance -- with two regular-season games on the calendar for Thursday night (Washington Nationals vs. New York Yankees and San Francisco Giants vs. Los Angeles Dodgers) while the rest of the league will begin play on Friday.
As we head toward scheduled first pitch of 2020 Opening Day between the Yankees and Nationals at Nationals Park, the weather in Washington D.C. is questionable with a possible thunderstorm on the radar. The chance for rain is lower than earlier today, but either way, the predicted forecast is casting some doubt on the first scheduled game of the 2020 shortened season. As of now, there's a chance that the game is delayed or postponed.
Here's the latest hourly forecast (via Weather.com) of temperatures and chances of precipitation leading up to the season opener's start time of 7:08 p.m. ET:
5 p.m. - 92 degrees, 45 percent chance of precipitation
6 p.m. - 79, 50 percent
7 p.m. - 88, 40 percent
8 p.m. - 82, 15 percent
9 p.m. - 80, 20 percent
10 p.m. - 80, 45 percent
11 p.m. - 79, 55 percent
12 a.m. - 77, 55 percent
At the best, things aren't looking great for the scheduled 7:08 p.m. ET first pitch and the storm could force a delay. At the worst, thunder and lightning accompanies steady rain tonight and forces a postponement. But, if a postponement were to happen, the Yankees and Nationals could push Thursday's game to Friday since both clubs are not scheduled to play then.
