What felt like an inevitable outcome for the Cubs earlier in the week has now become an unfortunate reality.
According to reports, the Cubs’ series against the Cardinals was postponed Friday after at least one Cardinals player tested positive for COVID-19. The latest positive test comes just a week after St. Louis was hit by MLB’s second outbreak, with 13 members of its traveling party testing positive for coronavirus.
“There have been two outbreaks. I think the goal for everybody is that there are none going forward,” president Theo Epstein said on Tuesday. “I have no idea how realistic that is. But that’s the goal. We’re trying to pull off a season and the threshold is health and safety for players and staff and it has not been perfect, obviously. But we hope it improves as we go and we learn from what’s gone wrong and we still have a chance to pull this off.”
Cubs players, coaching staff and front office have put on a brave face amid baseball’s recent outbreaks and while they’ve acknowledged the lack of control the sport has over the pandemic, the organization would continue to do everything in its power to keep everyone safe.
One issue that can not be ignored is that the Cardinals positive tests are not only affecting them, but also affecting other teams in baseball.
St. Louis has already had to postpone their series with the Brewers and Tigers, and with the status of the latest tests unknown, playing the Cubs this weekend looks doubtful. The Cardinals are also scheduled to play the White Sox next week.
“I do think that is a concern. You sort of assume we don’t play the same schedule, but roughly the same schedule and this is a competitive business. We’re all looking to make the playoffs and looking to win a championship and you want people to be competing in the same way,” general manager Jed Hoyer said last week.
The Cubs are still MLB’s only team without a positive COVID-19 test by a player since the original intake, but playing the Cardinals this weekend would pose a major risk to the team’s seemingly seamless handling of the situation.
The Cardinals held a workout on Thursday after quarantining in Milwaukee for seven days. It’s possible that players and coaches could have unknowingly been exposed to the virus during the team’s workout by the infected player.
Players have voiced their day-to-day approach with the virus, but you can tell with each positive test, there is still growing concern about the threat these outbreaks pose not only to their health, but the health of their families.
“I think there’s always concern,” Jon Lester said last week. “I think there was concern coming in– day one. That concern obviously hasn’t gone down. I think all that we can really do is worry about the Chicago Cubs. I know that kind of sounds selfish with everything going on in the world. You don’t ever wish anybody to get sick or anything like that. But if we continue to follow our protocols that we have in place as the Chicago Cubs and the protocols that MLB has in place, I feel like it puts us in a good position to succeed.
“It’s unfortunate that this stuff keeps popping up. But I mean, it really is kind of the world that we’re in right now. And we just have to keep plowing forward and hopefully try to play some more baseball.”
