Pittsburgh Pirates News: Upcoming Series Against the Cardinals Likely to be Canceled
By Marty Leap
It appears the COVID-19 pandemic is about to impact the Pittsburgh Pirates in a big way as their upcoming series against the St. Louis Cardinals is unlikely to be played
Really, this should come as no surprise. But according to Mark Saxon of The Athletic, the Pittsburgh Pirates upcoming series against the St. Louis Cardinals is likely to be canceled.
#STLCards players are being informed today that the team will not be assembling for at least 3-5 days and to get in workouts on their own, per source. Pittsburgh series likely will be canceled.
— Mark Saxon (@markasaxon) August 8, 2020
Again, this comes as no surprise due to the coronavirus outbreak that is currently ripping through the Cardinal roster. Due to this outbreak the Cardinals have played just five games this season, and now it appears that the Pittsburgh Pirates will be the latest team to have games canceled due to the Cardinals.
While the Pittsburgh Pirates as a team are playing poorly right now, this comes at a bad time for multiple hitters. Erik Gonzalez and Phillip Evans are red hot at the plate. After slow starts to the season, Bryan Reynolds, Gregory Polanco and Josh Bell are all showing signs of heating up and pulling out of their early season doldrums. So, the team being shutdown for three days could cool these hitters off.
It will also be interesting to see what the Pirates do with their pitching rotation. Joe Musgrove will start against the Tigers on Sunday, but after that things could get hairy. Staying on track, Trevor Williams, JT Brubaker and the Chad Kuhl/Steven Brault piggyback were schedule to start in St. Louis.
Erik Gonzalez Might be Breaking Out. dark. Next
Will the Pirates just bump all of those starters back a few days and have them pitch the first three games in Cincinnati? Will they reshuffle things around? We will have to wait and see. Regardless, it is not favor to the Pirates that they have to suffer because of an outbreak on another team.
This is just yet another reason why the Cardinals should be kicked out of MLB.