Ryan Zimmerman's wife: players isolating is a necessary sacrifice
If Major League Baseball is to return from its coronavirus hiatus, there is a very strong chance that the players would be required to isolate themselves in a secluded location for safety reasons.
For a lot of players, the idea of leaving their families behind to play baseball isn't something they are very comfortable with. For their spouses, many of whom would be left to care for children alone, it presents entirely new worries.
Heather Zimmerman, wife of the Washington Nationals first baseman Ryan Zimmerman, is due to give birth in June. She said Monday that she is not sold on her husband being completely isolated from his family for what could end up being several months, but believes that the ends may justify the means.
"I would say probably no," Heather said, according to Mark Zuckerman of MASN. "I would probably not be 100% comfortable with it. Especially considering we'll have a newborn in the house. But it's one of those - I hate to say the word sacrifice - but it's one of those sacrifices you have to make in order for the game to be played.
"But we have these conversations every day. We're so interested to see what ends up happening."
For now, there are some proposals on the table to get baseball running again with limited travel. These include a radical one-year realignment based on spring training locations, as well as having all 30 teams play in the Phoenix area. It was reported on Monday that the MLB's latest idea would have teams operating out of empty major- and minor-league facilities across three states, Arizona, Florida and Texas.
Despite her feelings about the plans, Heather has began to prepare herself for what she says, feels like the inevitable.
"Yeah, I'll be nervous," she said. "But chances are, if it does start and they're all playing from Arizona or Florida and having to cut the travel side out of it, we're probably just not going to see him for a few months."
The 35-year-old Zimmerman, who is set to begin his 16th season with the Nationals, isn't enthused by the idea either and also shares concerns over playing in empty stadiums. The first basemen did express some optimism that games will be played at some point, though, so long as it's "safe for everybody."
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YESTERDAY
MAY 18, 2026
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| G | A | PTS | ||
| Zachary Bolduc | 1 | - | 1 | |
| Rasmus Dahlin | 1 | - | 1 | |
| Phillip Danault | 1 | - | 1 | |
| Jordan Greenway | 1 | - | 1 | |
| Alex Newhook | 1 | - | 1 | |
| Alexandre Carrier | - | 1 | 1 | |
| Kaiden Guhle | - | 1 | 1 | |
| Lane Hutson | - | 1 | 1 | |
| Beck Malenstyn | - | 1 | 1 | |
| Ryan McLeod | - | 1 | 1 | |
| Owen Power | - | 1 | 1 | |
| Mattias Samuelsson | - | 1 | 1 | |
| Nick Suzuki | - | 1 | 1 | |
| Alexandre Texier | - | 1 | 1 | |
| Josh Anderson | - | - | - | |
| Zach Benson | - | - | - | |
| Bowen Byram | - | - | - | |
| Cole Caufield | - | - | - | |
| Kirby Dach | - | - | - | |
| Ivan Demidov | - | - | - | |
| COMPLETE STATS | ||||