Monday, August 3, 2020

COVID-19 in MLB: First The Marlins, Now The Cardinals

The abbreviated 60 game MLB season has been marred by COVID-19 outbreaks.

First came the Miami Marlins and now it's the St. Louis Cardinals' turn.

The Cardinals had their weekend series against the Milwaukee Brewers cancelled due to a player and several staff members testing positive for COVID-19. Now their four game series with the Detroit Tigers has also been cancelled amid reports that 13 members of the Cardinals organization have tested positive including seven players and six staff members. Complicating matters are reports that several members of the Cardinals went out to a casino. If this is the case it might give MLB Commissioner Rob Manfred's recent lambasting of players disregarding league protocols some justification. But that doesn't get Manfred off the hook. For now, the Cardinals remain in Milwaukee but are due to depart for St. Louis to host the Chicago Cubs for a weekend series on Friday.

As for the Marlins, they are scheduled to resume play tomorrow with a four game series against the Baltimore Orioles at Camden Yards. Two of the games will be a doubleheader of 7 inning games. The Marlins last played on July 26th before their extensive COVID-19 outbreak put their season on hold. Yet I wonder how many of the dozen Marlins players who have tested positive are ready to return or are possibly being rushed to return. If the Marlins are taking extra precautions then what kind of team are they going to be fielding tomorrow night? And what if the Marlins experience a second outbreak?

The 2020 MLB season should have been put out of its misery already, but there will be more misery to come.

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