Ex-MLBer Adrian Sampson: KBO returning 'can take my mind off' pandemic

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Lotte Giants right-hander Adrian Sampson is preparing to play baseball in South Korea while his Major League Baseball counterparts wait for the coronavirus outbreak to subside before they can take the field again.

The 28-year-old, who spent the past two seasons with the Texas Rangers, remains mystified by the global pandemic but believes being able to play baseball will serve as a welcome distraction.

"It's like the twilight zone," Sampson told Evan Grant of The Dallas Morning News. "I just don't feel like I know what's going on at any moment. But I know I can get on the field and play baseball, and I'm so focused on that I can take my mind off everything else."

Sampson and the rest of the Korean Baseball Organization are set to begin exhibition play on Tuesday without fans in attendance. If all goes well, the season may begin in early May.

South Korea reported single-digit new coronavirus cases for the first time in two months Sunday, so the country's fans will be treated to baseball sooner than those of other professional leagues.

Sampson believes his new league is "setting a really good example for what should be done" but admits it would be difficult for MLB to follow in the KBO's footsteps because major-league teams carry so much personnel with them.

MLB has been on hiatus since commissioner Rob Manfred suspended the 2020 season indefinitely in March.