As Sen. Pat Toomey opened the question-and-answer period of his roundtable on Major League Baseball’s return, he addressed Phillies first baseman Rhys Hoskins first among the panelists.

The Senator’s question was straightforward: Two days before the opening of a baseball season amid the COVID-19 pandemic, how was the morale among Hoskins and his Philadelphia teammates?

“So far, so good, Senator,” Hoskins replied resolutely. “Initially, there was some skepticism about the whole thing: How healthy would we be able to stay? How safe could we stay throughout the whole thing, with all of the moving parts that we knew [lay] ahead? There was an initial hiccup with some of the testing and receiving results, but once that was smoothed out, players gradually became more and more comfortable with what’s become the new normal.”

Toomey (R-Pa.) has convened a series of roundtables regarding ways of adapting aspects of American life to COVID-19, and Tuesday’s edition involved one representative from each MLB franchise in his home state -- Hoskins and Pirates general manager Ben Cherington -- along with MLB medical director Dr. Gary Green, MLB Players Association chief operating officer Xavier James, and MLB senior VP and deputy general counsel Patrick Houlihan.

Every participant credited the faithfulness of MLB players in adhering to health and safety protocols in assessing how the sport has been able to progress through Summer Camp with a relatively low percentage of COVID-19 cases. In the most recent period of monitoring testing for which data is available, only 0.05 percent of Tier 1 and Tier 2 individuals -- consisting of players and field/clubhouse staff -- tested positive.

“It’s a testament to how serious a lot of our guys are taking it, and players around the league are taking it,” Hoskins said. “I know I’ve asked my wife -- and I’m not alone in this -- that she’s kind of going to have to quarantine herself during these next 60-70 days, trying to mitigate as much risk as we can and stay as safe as we can. Being able to control the situation and who we’re around is going to help keep the rest of the group healthy.

“I would say now, as we’ve gotten into more of a routine and what this is going to be like, morale’s pretty high.”

In response to Toomey’s question regarding the possibility of MLB ballparks opening to fans this season, Houlihan said the league will “consider the question as the season goes, if the conditions change.” Clubs will be able to request the approval of Commissioner Rob Manfred to sell tickets if they first receive permission from state and local jurisdictions.

Manfred will then “make a holistic determination on whether it’s advisable” on a case-by-case basis, Houlihan said, adding that governmental approval would not automatically allow teams to welcome back the public to stadiums.

From the MLBPA perspective, James said, “The fan experience is integral to our sport, and we certainly want the fans to come back as soon as possible, but our paramount consideration -- as everyone is saying today -- is the health and safety of players and the other staffers. If there’s a way to bring fans back into the stadium safely, we’ll certainly do so, but I think at this point it’s an ancillary consideration to the one I just mentioned.”

Cherington confirmed that Pirates and Blue Jays officials are communicating about the possibility of the Blue Jays playing home games at PNC Park after the club was denied permission by the Canadian government to play the regular season at Rogers Centre in Toronto.

Cherington said the Pirates are “trying to be part of that solution.”

“The reality is we need the Blue Jays to be able to play in order for all of us to play,” said Cherington, a former Blue Jays executive. “We need 30 teams to be able to start the season. Right now, we have a problem that we need to solve, and that’s helping the Blue Jays find a place to play.”

Toomey said there are “millions and millions of Americans who can’t wait until Thursday night and Friday night,” with the opening of the 2020 regular season. To make that a reality, Green said he’s had dialogue with local, state, and national government officials; the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention; the White House Coronavirus Task Force; and Dr. Anthony Fauci, the director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, who is set to throw out the ceremonial first pitch at Nationals Park on Thursday night.

“We’ve spent a great deal of time developing these protocols, and we’re learning more about this virus every day, but it’s important to note this manual is not set in stone,” Green said. “As Xavier said, if the situation changes and we get hit [with an outbreak], we have to alter our operations to meet these needs. While we certainly all want to see baseball played again, our No. 1 priority is the health and safety -- not only of the players and staff -- but also the surrounding community.”