St. Louis Cardinals shuffle roster, pitching staff as they begin their no-rest run
The St. Louis Cardinals continue to forge ahead with a season in which the echo of COVID-19 is felt in seemingly every step forward on the calendar. The team got its latest reminder of the precariousness of their situation on Thursday, as righthander Johan Oviedo was placed on the COVID-related injured list after having been exposed to a person who tested positive for the coronavirus.
Oviedo has shown no symptoms and has since tested negative himself, while also having had no contact with any member of the team. Wednesday’s off day, the last on the team’s schedule this season, kept Oviedo away from the ballpark and minimized the club’s risk.
“No contact with (the) team,” said Cardinals President of Baseball Operations John Mozeliak. “We’re not even remotely concerned about that.”
Mozeliak emphasized that Oviedo’s contact was within the protocols established by the club and that the young starter hadn’t done anything to place himself at undue risk. He compared the situation to that of Austin Gomber, who was placed on the COVID IL in August after the team’s contact tracing efforts determined he was at risk of infection.
“Fingers are crossed that he did not get it,” Mozeliak said, “but we have to be ultra cautious given the sensitivity of what we’ve been through and we’ve got to continue to keep playing baseball games.”
Thursday’s doubleheader was the team’s third since Saturday, with three more on the schedule next week in Milwaukee and Pittsburgh. Innings from pitchers remain at a premium, and while both Mozeliak and Cardinals manager Mike Shildt conceded it was possible that Gomber — Thursday’s second starter — would remain in the starting rotation, neither was eager to set pitching plans in stone.
“Haven’t really made that decision or had that discussion yet with the manager, but we’re gonna need a lot of arms,” Mozeliak said. “We play four doubleheaders in the next eight days, so any place we can get innings, we’re gonna take it.”
Kwang Hyun Kim remains on the injured list recovering from a renal infarction, for which he’s being treated with blood thinners. Shildt allowed for the possibility that he could return to pitch on the team’s coming 10-day road trip, but cautioned that Kim’s body is still adjusting to his medication and that there remains a risk of significant injury from cuts and bruises.
“It’s really just normal now,” a resigned-sounding Shildt said. “We haven’t been able to put together a rotation or a pitching schedule all year. As Mike Maddux said, we need to continue to be elite adjusters, and that’s what we’ll be.”
Oviedo’s placement on the injured list is the third in 10 days for the Cardinals unrelated to an on-field incident. In addition to Kim, outfielder Dexter Fowler is also away from the team as he takes medication for a stomach ailment which decreases the effectiveness of his immune system.
Mozeliak said the team hadn’t yet “crossed that bridge” when it came to the possibility of Fowler missing the remainder of the season.
“I can’t get past today,” Mozeliak admitted. “When people ask me what I envision two weeks from now, I have no idea. Every time we think we have our roster set, something else changes. I don’t even try to get out front of thinking through the end of the weekend yet.
“We’re day to day, and I know I’ve said that a hundred times to all of you, and I hope you understand that we literally almost have a roster move every single day. And so trying to anticipate what we look like the final week of the season, I have no idea.”
Mozeliak’s exaggeration is only slight; according to the official transactions log maintained by Major League Baseball, Sept. 7 is the only day of this month on which the team has not made a roster move.
The fortunately-timed off-day will allow the Cardinals to move Carlos Martínez’s next start to Sunday from Monday without disrupting his regular rest. Mozeliak was hopeful that a full battery of negative tests would allow Oviedo to reclaim his rotation spot for Monday’s first twin bill in Milwaukee, keeping the team on some semblance of a schedule.
Still, as Shildt cautioned, planning too far ahead in 2020 seems to be a recipe for tempting fate.
“As soon as we start to think a plan’s gonna crystallize, things change, and that’s the nature of the game in general, historically,” Shildt said. “It’s in a little bit of warp speed now with the way things change.
“Like I’ve mentioned, it’s just a continual puzzle that we have to put together on the fly. We just keep working the puzzle and doing the best we can to continue to take care of guys from a physical standpoint and clearly give ourselves a chance to compete from the game standpoint.”
