Chicago Cubs dodge a major COVID-19 bullet to start the week

Delayed results had several members of the Cubs organization worried.

Chicago Cubs skipper David Ross and five other Tier 1 individuals, including both players and coaches did not attend workouts at Wrigley Field on Monday as a safety precaution after not receiving their COVID-19 tests in a timely manner. A majority of the team’s results were reported by Monday morning, but Ross and these five other individuals found themselves anxiously waiting as their tests “anticipated further clarity.”

This is not the first incident the Cubs have had involving COVID-19 testing throughout summer camp so far. Summer camp was underway by July 1 and there were already issues being found with COVID-19 testing within just a few days.  As a result, the North Chicago ball club had to push their workouts back on July 7 as the entire team was waiting on results from July 5.

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Both of these instances further bring out the flaws within Major Leauge Baseball’s testing process. Fortunately,Ross and the five others received their results back later in the day Monday. Breathing a sigh of relief, they all learned that they had tested negative for COVID-19.

Something worthy of noting is that the Chicago Cubs are the only team across the majors without a player testing positive through the first 14 days of testing. That means they must be doing something right, including staying in their bubble during camp, as previously promised.

However, the 2020 season is rapidly approaching considering Opening Day is a little over a week away. Once the Cubs leave Chicago, there is a greater risk for contraction of COVID-19. This goes for every team, once teams hit the road the risk of catching the virus increases. If Major Leauge Baseball is unable to contain outbreaks and solve the ongoing issues with their testing system, the season itself could be in jeopardy.

In addition, the more testing delays that arise, the greater the possibility that players are forced to hold out or consider opting out of the entire 2020 season. The future of the 2020 season is in the hands of the league’s ability to straighten out COVID-19 testing. Currently, the 2020 schedule has Chicago opening the season at home against the Milwaukee Brewers. Safety permitting, hopefully, baseball will be played this year.