Round Rock Express delays season by 2 weeks, following Major League Baseball’s lead

The Round Rock Express minor league baseball team postponed the start to its season by two weeks, following suit with Major League Baseball’s decision earlier on March 12.

The triple-A team’s president, Chris Almendarez, told Community Impact Newspaper that “time is our best friend right now” as the team waits to see how coronavirus will continue to affect the nation in the coming weeks.

“The only thing we know is MLB is postponed two weeks, so we’ve postponed,” he said. “It’s very unprecedented for anything like this to happen.”

The Express’ season runs from April to September and was originally scheduled to start April 9. The team is a feeder for the Houston Astros and plays at the Dell Diamond in Round Rock.

Almendarez said they canceled upcoming trips for the team and its staff related to preparations for the season and spring training. And with the season just a few weeks away, he said they have thought a lot about the financial effect of canceled games. He added that he is not sure just yet if the season will be fully pushed back by two weeks or if some of the games during the year will have to be cut.

“No. 1 thing we look at of course is safety,” Almendarez said. “And hopefully we can get some closure on this [soon]. It’s just crazy.”