Updated Cardinals’ schedule after latest MLB lockout cancellation

Here is the updated start of the St. Louis Cardinals’ regular schedule after MLB once again cancels Opening Day during the lockout.

Pitchers and catchers should have reported a couple weeks ago. We should be talking about who is standing out at spring training, who has stood out for the wrong reasons, and how Oli Marmol is fairing in his first camp as St. Louis Cardinals skipper.

Alas, Major League Baseball is still in a lockout, and Opening Day has now been canceled twice – and it has now pushed back the Cardinals’ first scheduled home game to April 25.

Their season, if it starts as currently constructed, would begin with a 10-game road trip: four games at the Milwaukee Brewers, three at the Miami Marlins and three at the Cincinnati Reds. They’d then have a seven-game homestand featuring three games against the New York Mets and four games against the Arizona Diamondbacks.

It’s less than ideal, of course, and an unfortunate reality that baseball has even reached this point. It was all avoidable. Instead, both sides are at a standstill after MLB proposed an international draft, which is something the players are adamantly against. And it’s delayed, and may continue to delay, what is supposed to be arguably the most important Cardinals season of the last decade.

Adam Wainwright and Yadier Molina’s final season. Nolan Arenado and Paul Goldschmidt, in their primes, donning Cardinals uniforms. A season that is supposed to put Tyler O’Neill in the MVP discussion. So much more. Delayed. All because of one side – MLB – negotiating in bad faith against the players, with numerous players speaking out against MLB for how they have handled negotiations.

The longer this drags on, the worst it gets for both sides. The negotiation becomes tougher, as they then have to worry about discussing full salaries vs. prorated salaries. And it delays, and potentially threatens to cancel, a Cardinals season that comes with World Series hopes.

A shame. A real shame. It should never have gotten to this point. Yet, here we are.