Under the original schedule released for the 2020 season, a matchup between aces Gerrit Cole and Max Scherzer could have only happened at the World Series. This year is anything but normal and the season will get underway Thursday night after a nearly four-month delay due to the coronavirus pandemic when Cole's Yankees visit Scherzer's Nationals for the first game of a 60-game regular season that will be played in empty stadiums and contain piped-in crowd noise. The latest indication of the unpredictable nature of the 2020 season came Thursday afternoon, when Nationals star Juan Soto tested positive for COVID-19, which will sideline him for several days.
Nationals-Yankees to 'embrace' challenges in MLB opener
