Baseball’s failure to effectively contain the coronavirus continues.
Monday, testing with the St. Louis Cardinals revealed that seven players and six staff members with the team have tested positive for COVID-19 bringing their total to 13 confirmed cases while the entire squad quarantines in Milwaukee. Meanwhile, St. Louis’ upcoming four-game series with the Tigers — which had already been altered to take place entirely in Detroit — has been postponed, if it’s even played at all.
The Cardinals will now have missed seven games in a row since being placed in quarantine last Thursday before their scheduled series against the Brewers. And as it stands, their series against the Cubs which is slated to start on Friday is still tentatively on given I’m sure under the assumption there are no further positive tests with the St. Louis players and/or staff.
Beyond St. Louis though, the MLB has to keep an eye on the health and any positive cases that come up with the Minnesota Twins who were the last team to actually be exposed to the Cardinals on the baseball field. The good news is the Philadelphia Phillies haven’t had a player, coach, or staff member test positive for the virus after they were seemingly exposed to the Miami Marlins who were the first team this short season to see a widespread outbreak.
Could this or any further cases with the Cardinals be the last straw for baseball and the rest of the 2020 shortened season? Commissioner Rob Manfred has already threatened to cancel the rest of the year due to baseball’s inability to contain the virus amongst the different teams. Whether that actually happens is still yet to be seen, however, it seems pretty clear at this point that this shitshow of a baseball season is becoming nothing more than a massive Petry dish that does nothing but further add to the Country’s problem in containing the virus.
