It's time to renew one of the biggest rivalries in baseball. And if you ask me the best rivalry in baseball. The Cubs and the Cardinals. Here's what you need to know before the Cardinals take the field at Busch Friday night:

  • The Cardinals will resume play without catcher Yadier Molina, infielders Paul DeJong, Edmundo Sosa, and Rangel Ravelo, and pitchers Junior Fernández and Kodi Whitley. They're the players who tested positive for COVID-19 and are on the injured list.
  • The Cardinals are recalling pitchers Alex Reyes and Génesis Cabrera and purchasing the contracts of infielder Max Schrock and pitcher Roel RamirezAdditionally catcher Jose Godoy will be added to the Major League Taxi Squad. Schrock and Ramierz will be making their Major League debut.
  • Earlier this week the Cards activated infielder Brad Miller.
  • The Cubs are in first place in the NL Central. Have one of the best records in baseball and have won six straight.
  • The Cubs six straight victories have come against the Royals and Pirates, two teams that haven't been playing great baseball this year.
  • Friday and Saturday the games are on Fox Sports Midwest, Sunday night the game is on ESPN.

The key for the Cardinals will be to come back playing good baseball. The Cubs are hitting and scoring runs. And the starting pitching has been good. But the Cubs bullpen is weak. While teams like the Pirates and Royals haven't been able to take advantage of the Cubs weak bullpen, that might say more about the Pirates and the Royals than the Cubs.

We'll see how a week off and the loss of six players to COVID-19 will impact the team starting tomorrow tonight. It's a 60 game sprint and while the Cardinals seem mired in fourth place in the N.L. Central, that can change fast. Winning a series against the Cubs this weekend and ending their hot streak is a good start.

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