The St. Louis Cardinals received negative results from a round of rapid COVID-19 testing and are now free to travel and return to the field. The team had been quarantining in its Milwaukee hotel room following a cluster of 13 positive cases in recent days, including seven players. Team president of baseball operations John Mozeliak announced the lifted restrictions during a Tuesday night Zoom call with media.
The Cardinals are scheduled to begin a three-game series against the rival Cubs on Friday at Busch Stadium in St. Louis. Barring the unexpected, that series should proceed as planned. Per MLB.com's Anne Rogers, the team will return to St. Louis on Wednesday and conduct a Thursday workout in advance of the Cubs series.
The Cardinals will enter that series short-handed, as they'll be without catcher Yadier Molina and shortstop Paul DeJong, who were among the Cardinals players to test positive. They'll also be without starter Carlos Martinez, who was placed on the IL for undisclosed reasons. Infielders Edmundo Sosa and Rangel Ravelo and right-handed relievers Junior Fernandez and Kodi Whitley also tested positive for COVID-19 and are on the IL. The outbreak caused two scheduled series, one against the Brewers in Milwaukee and another against the Tigers in Detroit, to be postponed.
The Cardinals are not the only team to experience a COVID-19 outbreak this year. The Marlins had 21 members of their traveling party test positive last week, including 18 players. Miami returned to action Tuesday night against the Orioles.