Finally, the St. Louis Cardinals are doing the right thing with Dylan Carlson
Circumstances forced the St. Louis Cardinals to do finally do the right thing Thursday as the club announced it will promote top prospect Dylan Carlson to the major league roster when the team resumes play (hopefully) this weekend.
Carlson deserved to make it to the big leagues when the season started after an impressive camp and due to the fact that he really had nothing else left to prove in the minors. But he was left behind as the St. Louis Cardinals manipulated his free agent clock and his earning potential through the arbitration process. While he was past the point where he could be a free agent a year earlier just a few days into the 2020 campaign, he was still likely to be eligible to be a Super Two player if he made his debut in the first half of August. COVID-19 made playing in the first half of the month impossible. If the Cardinals don’t have any more unpleasant surprises between now and then, he’ll make his first appearance in the major leagues Aug. 15 in Chicago against the White Sox.
The bad news is that the Cardinals also announced Thursday that pitcher Austin Gomber has been placed on the injured list because of possible exposure to COVID-19. While it’s certainly understandable why the Cardinals can’t afford to take any chances with the virus, the team really couldn’t afford to lose any more pitchers with starters Miles Mikolas and Carlos Martinez already out of action along with relievers Alex Reyes, Ryan Helsley, Junior Fernandez and Kodi Whitley.
It’s hard to imagine St. Louis will be competitive with half its pitching staff along with a pair of all-star position players in Yadier Molina and Paul DeJong sidelined. But at least the club can begin to turn the page on this nightmare. After waiting four months for the season to start after spring training was shut down by the pandemic, Cardinals fans have had to hold their breath and hope the bad news would come to an end as a quarter of the shortened mlb season passed them by.
Something that remains to be seen is how long it will take players to get back up to full speed. As this season has unfolded, some players have tested positive for the virus but had no symptoms. A portion of them have been able to come back as soon as they’re eligible. But some of the sickened Cardinals players had bad enough symptoms that they had to go to the hospital for treatment. It’s not unusual for people who have COVID-19 to suffer from depleted energy for weeks after they’ve tested negative. I imagine it requires a pretty robust supply of energy to throw a baseball 97 miles an hour for an extended period of time — or to swing a bat quickly enough to hit one of those 97 mph heaters when you’re standing on the other end of it.
It seems Cardinals players were playing fast and loose with the COVID-19 protocols and it came back to bite them on the posterior. Hopefully, they’ve learned their lesson because there is no way this team can afford to be idled for another two weeks and have any chance to complete a reasonable number of games.
In the meantime, I’m not going to count any chickens before they’re hatched. It seems like every time we think the Cardinals have this situation contained, another case comes to light. It’s definitely still up in the air with word Thursday of Gomber being shelved and also that a coach has tested positive for the virus. I’ll be holding my breath for the next day and a half before I believe this extended play nightmare is finally over.
But when it is, I’m really looking forward to some of the kids getting some playing time. Let’s see Carlson, O’Neill and Lane Thomas, when he’s clear of COVID, play together in the outfield. Let’s see Helsley have a chance to play a prominent role, either as a late inning reliever or as a starter. If Molina can’t play, let’s see Andew Knizner gets some time behind the plate so we can see if he’s ready for prime time.
I think, because of all the setbacks this team has faced, 2020 is a lost cause. So let’s start working on plans for 2021 right now and cross our fingers that when February rolls around this whole situation is nothing more than a bad memory.
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Scott Wuerz is a lifelong St. Louis Cardinals fan. The Cheap Seats blog is written from his perspective as a fan and is designed to spark discussion among fans of the Cardinals and other MLB teams. Sources supporting his views and opinions are linked. If you’re looking for Cardinals news and features, check out the BND’s Cardinals section.
