Cubs trying not to worry about trip to St. Louis
Since summer camp began on July 3, the Cubs have managed to avoid issues with the coronavirus, but that's about to change.
With news Monday that the St. Louis Cardinals are up to 13 positive tests for COVID-19 - seven players and six staff members - their scheduled weekday series in Detroit was officially postponed.
That means the next game on the Cardinals' schedule is Friday in St. Louis against the Cubs. Before facing Kansas City on Monday at Wrigley Field, Cubs manager David Ross wasn't ready to think that far ahead.
"That's really a small blip on the radar right now," Ross said. "We've got Kansas City still for four. There's so much we have to take care of before we get to Friday. It's in the back of our minds.
"I know our front office is working diligently on that and in communication with MLB. Right now, there's not much I'm focused on with St. Louis. What's the (Bill) Belichick line, 'We're on to Kansas City?' "
The Cubs are scheduled to play the Royals twice at home, then twice on the road before moving on to St. Louis. Player rep Ian Happ said the plan remains playing in St. Louis this weekend, but things can obviously change.
"Until we hear otherwise, that's how we're going to go about it," Happ said. "As far as more rules, more restrictions, more guidelines, there's obviously been talk about it. The latest that I've seen, the Cubs are exceeding what the current guidelines are, and would be well within compliance with what future guidelines or restrictions would be."
According to the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, the 13 members of the Cardinals' traveling party who tested positive were sent home, while the rest of the team remained in Milwaukee, where they'd been scheduled to play last weekend.
Bryant back in lineup:
Kris Bryant returned to the lineup Monday after missing two games with a stomach issue.
Bryant didn't expect to miss any games, but with a heightened sense of caution during the pandemic, he ended up sitting out Saturday and then waited for a negative coronavirus test to be cleared.
"Our team doctor thought it would be appropriate to be overly cautious with it," Bryant said Monday. "Deep down, I didn't really have much concern. It kind of caught me off guard too, the whole process. I had no clue this is what would happen, but I'm glad it did because if I did end up having it, that's the way to catch it.
"I think it's important to put your pride and ego aside. It could end up helping the rest of your teammates out too."
Cubs maintain caution:
The Cubs continued to talk about how they can't let their guard down, even after going a month without a positive COVID-19 test among players.
"We had a really good discussion with Rossy (manager David Ross), kind of at the beginning of summer camp," Cubs player rep Ian Happ said. "Chicago's the best city in the world. Chicago is a city where you could do theoretically all the things we're talking about not being able to do. So we had a discussion as a team and everybody was on the same page as far as what was acceptable, what was not acceptable.
"I think the one thing that resonates and that we keep saying to each other, you have to treat everybody like they have it. No matter if it's your teammate who you know exactly what they've been doing for the last 10 days or if it's somebody you see on the street."