While I have no doubt that the Cubs are perturbed in the abstract that they should suddenly sit for four days, thanks to the postponement of the Cardinals series and Monday’s scheduled off-day, I also have no doubt that they will make the decision support that MLB made yesterday. I think we can keep both perspectives – that this is bad luck for the Cubs from a competitive point of view, but keeping the players and coaches as safe as possible trumps everything else.
As Cubs president Theo Epstein shared in a statement:
“Based on the information that MLB has shared with us, the launch of this series is a necessary step to protect the health and safety of the cardinals and the puppies. Therefore, it is absolutely the right thing to do. While it is obviously less than ideal, this is 2020 and we will include all the steps necessary to promote the well-being of players and staff and increase our chances of completing this season safely. We’ll be ready to go on Tuesday in Cleveland. In the meantime, we want the Cardinals staff to have a quick and complete recovery time. ”
With three additional positive tests for the Cardinals yesterday, and with an investigation that apparently led the Cardinals to the conclusion that some or all of these cases were developed before the team traveled out of Milwaukee together on Wednesday, proposal was the only choice.
Not only can you not know for sure whether more undetected positives could pop up today or tomorrow, but you may not know that these three new cases did not transmit the virus to additional players or staff when you traveled on Wednesday or collaborated on Wednesday or Thursday. So, even if you were sure there would be no ground transportation to a visiting team like the Cubs, you can not be sure that the Cardinals would no longer spread among themselves. So forget the idea of just trying to bring in extra players from the Cardinals’ alternative side to cover missing players – you can’t do that, as the Marlins did, until you’re sure the original spread has stopped.
… to that end, what’s going on with the Cardinals now? Should they be closed for another week to determine if there was secondary spread? It’s very difficult to imagine that there will be none, given that you’re talking about three new vectors of spread and a virus that is just as damn easily transmissible. For now, Cardinal President John Mozeliak says they are taking this day by day to see what the test results bring this weekend. Whatever your feelings about the Cardinals’ baseball team, we should all hope that there are no new positives this weekend – both on a human level, and that their season can continue as soon as possible.
If the Cardinals close out for more than just this weekend, there’s almost no way they can play all their games this season – they have 55 starting Monday in 49 days. Turn them off for a week, and it’s like 55 games in 45 days. That probably shouldn’t even be attempted, despite 7-inning doubleheaders. It is possible that this Cubs Cardinals series will never be played, and, no, it would not be that the Cardinals forget the games to the Cubs. The games simply would not have existed, and playoff classification would be determined by the winning percentage.
