St. Louis Cardinals: A bubble for the 2020 playoffs is the only way

ST LOUIS, MO - SEPTEMBER 08: Tyler O'Neill #41 of the St. Louis Cardinals celebrates with teammates after beating the Minnesota Twins during game two of a doubleheader at Busch Stadium on September 9, 2020 in St Louis, Missouri. (Photo by Dilip Vishwanat/Getty Images)
ST LOUIS, MO - SEPTEMBER 08: Tyler O'Neill #41 of the St. Louis Cardinals celebrates with teammates after beating the Minnesota Twins during game two of a doubleheader at Busch Stadium on September 9, 2020 in St Louis, Missouri. (Photo by Dilip Vishwanat/Getty Images)

The MLB has made the smartest choice they could for the 2020 Playoffs.

Whether or not the St. Louis Cardinals are there, the 2020 MLB Playoffs will be unlike any other year.

Almost surprisingly, the MLB has gone without any major delays for a team due to a COVID-19 outbreak for the majority of the season since the Cardinals had their own.

Intelligently, they aren’t going to assume that that streak stays the way it is.

The MLB announced recently that rather than traveling to different ballparks for the postseason, they would be instituting a bubble for the postseason. At this point, the NBA and NHL have operated in a bubble with huge success.

There has not been a single positive test with either league, but it has taken the buy-in of everyone involved.

For the new Wild Card round of the playoffs, the three-game series will be played in three consecutive days at the higher seed’s stadium. After this first series, the NL will move to Minute Maid Park and Globe Life Park to play the NLDS. From there, the NLCS and the World Series will be played at the brand new Globe Life Park.

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For the playoffs, this makes perfect sense. If there was to be a positive COVID test among any of the teams involved, the entire series could be wiped out. It was impractical to have to play an entire season in a bubble, but a two or three-week sacrifice like this is necessary.

For the Cardinals, they have to worry about making the playoffs first. The recent stretch of games has clearly taken its toll on the roster. Slowly, we have seen their play decline to the point where as of Thursday they aren’t in a spot anymore. The Cardinals have plenty of games left to reclaim their spot, they just need to end the slide now.

Next. Path to the playoffs remains wide open for the St. Louis Cardinals. dark

Regardless of what the playoffs look like, the Cardinals need to find their way in.