The St. Louis Cardinals series against the Pittsburgh Pirates has been postponed due to Covid-19 concerns.
Currently, St. Louis has nine players and seven staffers who are positive for Covid-19. Their manager, Mike Shildt, said that multiple members of the team have had to go to the emergency room due to the virus.
Here’s what Shildt told KMOX/1120 AM:
“By and large, people are in a pretty good spot. There are people that have symptoms, and have had a few visits to the ER for some IVs and a little more clarity. Nobody has had to stay. But there are people dealing with — I mean, this is real. And people are experiencing a lot of the symptoms that we hear about, that are associated with this. A variety of them are experiencing multiple ones. Seems like they rotate with them. And again, nobody is in close to any critical shape, but people are having to deal with some things that aren’t comfortable at all. And hopefully we can get that behind them. They’re getting great care.”
The team has completed the fewest games in baseball this season. They have only played five games this season, none since July 29.
Pittsburgh’s Take
By contrast, Pittsburgh has played 16 games this season. Five of the team’s players tested positive for coronavirus during summer camp, but they have had none since then. However, the team’s general manager, Ben Cherington, knows the importance of keeping Covid-19 at bay.
“Yes, this is new and different but this is what we have to do to play this year: Take it seriously,” Cherington said. “We’ve got to be really disciplined and follow the protocols really seriously. Because that’s really what limits the contagion. If you have one positive, it’s not going to take a team down. It’s the contamination that is the risk and if we really are disciplined on the protocols then we lower significantly the risk of containment regarding contamination. So we’ve got to be really really serious about that.”
So far this season, 24 games have been postponed. If more teams have coronavirus outbreaks, Major League Baseball might have to cancel the season.
