To mask or not to mask? Rays players will have option

ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. - The upcoming 60-game MLB season will have a plethora of things different. Of those sticking out: Some players will wear masks while playing. 

Rays pitcher Tyler Glasnow is not one of them.

"Yeah I don't want to play with a mask on. It's kind of hard to breathe," Glasnow said after his first day back at Tropicana Field after testing positive for COVID-19. "It's nice to have it on as much as you can, but if I'm going to pitch, or lift, or run, I’m not going to wear one.

Not everyone has written off wearing a mask while playing.

“Looking at Ji Man [Choi], and Yandy [Diaz], I have not seen them take their masks off too much," manager Kevin Cash said. "Yandy does everything with a mask on."

Meanwhile others remain on the fence about wearing a mask while playing.

"I've been toying with it," Rays catcher Mike Zunino said. "Sometimes I'll slide it off. Sometimes I'll have it just only covering my mouth. I've piddled around with a few different types of masks."

Like high socks or low pant legs, masks in baseball will depend on the individual. Another determining factor: Outside heat. Not every game will be played in an air-conditioned stadium like Tropicana Field.

"I guess it's going to be the weighing of what's the safer option," Zunino said, considering the balance between comfort and safety in the summer heat. "If you wear a thinner mask that's a little more breathable, is it really doing much?"

Ultimately, Zunino has confidence in his fellow MLB brethren that things will remain safe.

"The way it's going across the league, and seeing what's going on it looks like guys are doing their part, and should leave guys in a way to feel comfortable to play."