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MLB adds seven more doubleheaders to Cardinals schedule to make up for coronavirus postponements

The St. Louis Cardinals might want to invest in more pitchers soon. In an effort to make up for lost games, MLB added seven more doubleheaders to the Cardinals’ schedule.

The Cardinals will resume play Saturday in a doubleheader against the Chicago White Sox. The Cardinals were initially supposed to start their series against the White Sox on Friday, but that contest was moved to Saturday.

The Cardinals have played just 5 games this season due to a coronavirus outbreak. They haven’t played since July 29, when the team lost 3-0 to the Minnesota Twins. In that time, the Cardinals have missed games against the Chicago Cubs, Detroit Tigers, Milwaukee Brewers and Pittsburgh Pirates.

To make that up, MLB had to get creative. The Cardinals’ three-game series against the Cubs that was supposed to take place Aug. 7 through Aug. 9 will now be turned into three doubleheaders. The first will take place Aug. 17, the second will take place Aug. 19 and the final one will take place Sept. 5. The Cubs will act as the home team during Game 1 of each doubleheader. The Cardinals will serve as the home team during Game 2 of each doubleheader.

The series with the Pirates will be handled the same way. The Cardinals and Pirates will play doubleheaders Aug. 27 and Sept. 18.

The seventh new doubleheader added to the Cardinals’ schedule will come against the Twins on Sept. 8. MLB added that doubleheader to give the Cardinals an extra off day.

The Cardinals already have other doubleheaders scheduled

What about the Brewers series the Cardinals missed? That series has already been rescheduled as three doubleheaders. They’ll take place Sept. 14, Sept. 16 and Sept. 25.

That makes for ... a pretty rough schedule down the stretch.

Will the Cardinals actually play 60 games in 2020?

In order for the team to reach 60 games in 2020, it will need to make sure no other coronavirus outbreaks occur around the team. On top of that, the Cardinals will have to hope all their opponents are able to avoid positive tests that would result in more postponed games.

Even if that happens, the Cardinals could still struggle to reach 60 games. The team’s doubleheader with the Tigers that was supposed to take place Thursday hasn’t been rescheduled by the league yet. As of right now, the Cardinals are only scheduled to play 58 games in 2020.

MLB could eventually add another doubleheader to the Cardinals’ schedule, but the league is quickly running out of time — and days ... and potentially Cardinals’ pitchers — to make that happen.

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