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St. Louis Cardinals: It’s a tone setting day for baseball in 2020

By Matt Graves

JUPITER, FLORIDA - MARCH 12: A general view of hand sanitizer at the stadium during the spring training game between the St. Louis Cardinals and the Miami Marlins at Roger Dean Chevrolet Stadium on March 12, 2020 in Jupiter, Florida. Major League Baseball is suspending Spring Training and the first two weeks of the regular season due to the ongoing threat of the Coronavirus (COVID-19) outbreak. (Photo by Mark Brown/Getty Images)
JUPITER, FLORIDA - MARCH 12: A general view of hand sanitizer at the stadium during the spring training game between the St. Louis Cardinals and the Miami Marlins at Roger Dean Chevrolet Stadium on March 12, 2020 in Jupiter, Florida. Major League Baseball is suspending Spring Training and the first two weeks of the regular season due to the ongoing threat of the Coronavirus (COVID-19) outbreak. (Photo by Mark Brown/Getty Images) /
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St. Louis Cardinals players begin reporting on Wednesday and with that, they will all have to be tested. How this goes will set the tone for baseball.

On Wednesday, players around the country began arriving back at their home ballparks to begin getting tested and ultimately, begin getting ready for baseball again. For the St. Louis Cardinals, we know some players had been practicing at Busch for months, but there’s nothing a selfie of Yadier Molina taking batting practice at Busch can’t help.

However, even with negotiations done for the 2020 season, there is still a dark cloud hanging over the baseball world. Of course, that is COVID-19. For now, blind confidence in the fact that we will have baseball in 2020 is all we need, but for some, the belief that the season will actually happen isn’t there.

Buster Olney has been one big name that is especially down on the season.

It will all come down to how the league will deal with those that test positive. At first check, the Cardinals came out perfectly clean. However, on Monday, the team reported their first positive test. 

We don’t know who it was that tested positive, but it is a concerning sign.

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As players arrive and check into camp, they are going to be tested of course. The percentage of players that test positive will be a big indicator of the chances for the 2020 season.

The league hasn’t set any maximum player rate that they will for sure shut down at, but with things like a pandemic, the implications of setting that threshold too high are especially morbid.

The season could be scrapped before it even has a chance to start.

I’m not trying to bum everyone out, especially as someone who would describe their stance on baseball in 2020 as “blindly hopeful.” The results from the tests done on Wednesday will be huge news though.

Back in the category of good news, Mike Shildt said on Wednesday that all players are planning on playing. 

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The Cardinals’ first workout is on Friday with intrasquad games beginning early next week. If nothing else, that’s enough to get excited about.

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