WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. -- With the start of the 2020 Major League Baseball season delayed because of the coronavirus pandemic, many Nationals plan to stay in West Palm Beach and work out at FITTEAM Ballpark of the Palm Beaches in preparation for when games resume.

¡°Obviously we¡¯re getting ready for Opening Day, and it¡¯s halted,¡± manager Dave Martinez said. ¡°It¡¯s disappointing, but we all get it. Health is the important thing right now, for everybody -- for fans, players, families. We get it. We¡¯re going to do our best to stay positive throughout this whole thing -- which we will -- and just get ready to play when the bell rings.¡±

The Nationals began expressing interest in remaining in West Palm Beach before MLB announced Friday night that there are three pathways teams can take with Spring Training operations now suspended: players may return to their homes, remain in their respective Spring Training cities or return to their club¡¯s home cities.

Let¡¯s look at some questions regarding this situation and how the Nats are approaching the season in which they are set to defend the World Series championship.

When will the season start?
There is no official start date for the season at this time. What we do know is that the start of the season will be delayed at least two weeks. Opening Day had been scheduled for Thursday, March 26.

MLB will continue to evaluate ongoing events leading up to the start of the season. Guidance related to daily operations and workouts will be relayed to all 30 clubs in the coming days.

How will the schedule change to accommodate the late start?
According to a press release sent by MLB on Thursday, the league and teams have been preparing a variety of contingency plans regarding the 2020 regular-season schedule. MLB will announce the effects on the schedule at an appropriate time and will remain flexible as events warrant, with the hope of resuming normal operations as soon as possible.

What¡¯s going to happen with the rest of Spring Training?
Forthcoming Spring Training games were canceled as of 4 p.m. ET on Thursday, and 2020 World Baseball Classic qualifying games scheduled in Tucson, Ariz., were postponed indefinitely. Players may decide what¡¯s in their best interest between returning to their homes, remaining in West Palm Beach or heading to D.C.

What about Minor League Baseball?
Minor League Baseball announced Thursday that the start of the regular season, originally scheduled for April 9, will be delayed indefinitely.

Why do the Nationals want to stay?
The Nationals want their players to stay on track with the work they had done to this point in Spring Training. Plus, Martinez believes it will be good for them to be around each other and a baseball field during this time.

¡°We don¡¯t want to take a step backwards, because we¡¯re in a pretty good spot right now and we¡¯re building up,¡± he said. ¡°We¡¯re going to take our ground balls and we¡¯re going to hit. I¡¯m going to talk about scheduling some scrimmage games amongst ourselves, because the pitchers still got to throw, they¡¯ve got to face hitters. I want our hitters to face live pitching. We¡¯re going to try to keep them going.

¡°¡­ As we get closer to a definitive [start date], we¡¯ll start ramping it up. But I still want us to play baseball. And for me, I think it¡¯d be good to come out and gather together and feel like [a] team and get that bonding still. I know when we¡¯re not together during the offseason, I miss these guys. They¡¯re pretty close. To keep them all together and keep their minds off of different things and just go out and do some fun stuff will be good for all of us.¡±

I have tickets to the home opener, what does this mean for me? What about tickets to other games?
In a statement issued Thursday, the Nationals said: ¡°Until we know when MLB will resume games, we won¡¯t be able to make changes in regard to tickets for the postponed games. However, we know that attending the games to which you bought tickets is very important and we will share information with you as soon as we have updates.¡±

What about the World Series commemorations?
The Nationals were scheduled to celebrate their 2019 championship throughout their first homestand, starting with the home opener on April 2 against the Mets until the series finale against the Marlins on April 8. We won¡¯t know when the commemorations will take place until it is determined when play can resume.

How might this affect the Nationals once play resumes?
The Nationals entered Spring Training with key questions to address, and they will continue seeking answers while they hold workouts during the delay.

? Third base: Washington is determining if 22-year-old Carter Kieboom will be its Opening Day third baseman. If Kieboom is not ready to start at third when the season begins, the Nats can turn to veteran Asdr¨²bal Cabrera, who has been mentoring Kieboom at the position.

? Batting order: The Nationals experimented with Victor Robles in the leadoff position. The caveat there is the team also likes Adam Eaton and Trea Turner at the top of the lineup. Both Robles and Eaton were limited by injuries during Spring Training games, so this could be a scenario they monitor during scrimmages.

? Fifth starter: Last season, Joe Ross, Austin Voth and Erick Fedde shared the fifth-starter responsibilities. No decision for 2020 had been made by the time of postponement. Ross had stood out with scoreless starts in his first two outings.

? Bullpen: The Nats signed veteran reliever Will Harris during the offseason to add to the back end of the bullpen. Harris, however, has not pitched this spring because of a left abdomen injury.

What are they saying?
Max Scherzer, Nationals player representative, member of Player¡¯s Union executive sub-committee:

¡°We¡¯re getting pretty good information that we¡¯re not just treating this like the flu. I think all the players, we understand that now, completely, we understand the severity of what we¡¯re dealing with here. And we understand why such preventative measures have to be taken for the public health and to keep that in mind, to try to keep this from really being a doomsday scenario.¡±

¡°It was harder with the short offseason trying to plan for how we were going to handle everything in spring, you know, with a short offseason, what we wanted to be able to do and accomplish. Now with the extra two weeks, it kind of gives everybody an extra blow before pressing into work, and it could be a nice little needed rest before we actually start the season.¡±