UPDATE (Thursday, 7:30 PM CT): The Cardinals have officially announced the postponement of Friday’s game and that it will be made up as part of a doubleheader on Saturday.
UPDATE (Thursday, 5:15 PM CT): The Cardinals’ coach who tested positive was reportedly in isolation and did not come into contact with anyone, per Bob Nightengale. Because of this, the team is still planning on traveling to Chicago on Friday and play a doubleheader on Saturday.
ESPN’s Buster Olney hinted at players driving themselves individually from St. Louis to Chicago to avoid unnecessary contact. If conditions are not safe enough to travel together, I’m not sure why the league would think that playing a game would be a much better option – that’s just me.
Based on several tweets, Friday night’s Cardinals-White Sox series opener at Guaranteed Rate Field has reportedly been postponed.
MLB Network insider Jon Heyman was among those who shared the news early Thursday afternoon with a concerning twist, stating that an unknown coach from the St. Louis Cardinals organization had tested positive for COVID-19. The reports came after suspicion mounted when “Sports + Aviation,” an account that shares flight information for professional sports teams, tweeted out a picture showing that St. Louis’ flight for Friday had been canceled.
USA Today’s Bob Nightengale also tweeted out a few minutes prior that should the Cardinals’ test results remain negative, play would likely resume on Saturday with a doubleheader. Of course, with Heyman’s news following Nightengale’s update, things could change and potentially put the series in jeopardy.
It appears that with the latest positive result, St. Louis’ total cases have reached 18 within the organization. Because of this, a whopping 17 days will have passed since the team’s last game on July 29th, if they play on Saturday.
We still have no clue who will be active on the Cardinals’ roster, what their lineup will look like, or how they will structure their rotation over the course of the three-game series. Adam Wainwright was originally slated for tomorrow night’s matchup, with the rest of the weekend’s starters being listed as TBA. As for the White Sox, no starter was listed for Friday night with Lucas Giolito and Dallas Keuchel scheduled for Saturday and Sunday respectively.
The Cardinals, White Sox, and Major League Baseball have yet to release any official statement on plans for this weekend. We will update this article as more becomes known.
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