Update — 3:20 pm
The Cardinals-Cubs game tonight has been postponed.
MLB released an official statement outlining the postponement on Friday. One more Cardinals player has tested positive for COVID-19, meaning the team will undergo additional testing and contact tracing. Decisions about the rest of the series will proceed off these results.
The Cardinals were already set to play five different doubleheaders in the final part of their season. Should MLB choose to reschedule, St. Louis would still have to play 55 games in a remaining 50 days.
John Mozeliak will also hold a Zoom call with the media at 5 pm CST this evening.
August 7, 2020:
The St. Louis Cardinals will resume their season at home on Friday night against the Chicago Cubs.
Since Monday’s confirmation of 13 positive tests, the Cardinals have remained proactive in following Major League Baseball’s health and safety protocols. Remaining players for St. Louis had to wait in the club’s Milwaukee hotel until Wednesday morning. After two straight days of negative tests, Cardinals players and staff then returned home. The Cardinals also conducted workouts at Busch Stadium on Thursday, using the time to ramp up after more than a week without on-field games.
“Clearly something happened that allowed [the virus] to get into our space,” manager Mike Schildt in a Zoom call with reporters on Wednesday. “The fact is somebody got it, asymptomatic, brought it into the clubhouse…and as far as the protocols go we’ll continue to be vigilant.”
Schildt later noted his opposition toward to the week’s earlier reports that a casino caused the outbreak in the organization. President of Baseball Operations John Mozeliak similarly denied any truth to these rumors earlier in the week. “I think reports to that are pretty irresponsible, quite honestly,” Schildt said.
Other News/Notes
Daniel Ponce de Leon (0-1) will take the mound first in a 7:15 CT start against the Cubs. With the contest on Friday, the Cardinals season will resume as scheduled. The move is a first step in a reshuffled rotation for the Cards.
That structure was adjusted after the Cardinals placed seven different players on the 10-day injured list earlier in the week. Indeed, players like Paul DeJong, Yadier Molina and Edmundo Sosa all took to social media announcing they had contracted COVID-19.
“I am deeply saddened…even after following the prevention recommendations,” Molina said on social media. “I’ll do everything in my power to get back ASAP for Cardinals fans, the city of St. Louis and my teammates.”
The Cardinals also announced on Thursday night their plans to reschedule their series with Milwaukee and Detroit. In short, the club plans to play a lot of double-headers late in the season.
An update on our regular season schedule following the postponement of recent games: pic.twitter.com/qTK5C7gsJu
— St. Louis Cardinals (@Cardinals) August 6, 2020
According to the schedule, St. Louis will have only two off days in these final 52 days of the regular season.
Featured Image Courtesy of Colten Peterson & St. Louis Post-Dispatch