Cardinals returning Saturday with doubleheader vs. White Sox

The St. Louis Cardinals will return to play on Saturday with a doubleheader against the Chicago White Sox at Guaranteed Rate Field, the team announced Thursday.

The doubleheader, featuring two seven-inning games, will stand in for Friday's contest that was postponed following a coach testing positive on Thursday.

St. Louis will begin to make up the games it missed due to its COVID-19 outbreak by playing three doubleheaders in Chicago over the next week, according to Derrick Goold of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch. In addition to the Saturday twin bill on the south side, the team will play doubleheaders at Wrigley Field against the Cubs on Monday and Wednesday.

A fully updated schedule is expected to be released by MLB on Friday, Mozeliak said, according to Matt Vereen of KOLR10 KOZL.

Cardinals players are now en route to Chicago. While some will take a bus, the team also rented multiple cars to take them to Illinois, according to KSDK's Frank Cusumano.

"(The) confidence of getting back to play is very real," Mozeliak said, according to Goold.

The Cardinals last played on July 29, when they lost to the Minnesota Twins at Target Field. After that game, a COVID-19 outbreak swept through their clubhouse. As of Tuesday, the team had recorded 17 positive tests with at least 10 players, including star catcher Yadier Molina, among those infected.

They enter play Saturday still sporting a 2-3 record while riding a three-game losing streak, and must now play 55 games in 43 days.

MLB is now working with the union to set up the Cardinals' schedule going forward, and the league still believes that the team can play all 60 games, according to Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic. Players are asking to play more doubleheaders, Rosenthal reports, and they could even play games the day after the regular season ends.

Mozeliak also announced that outfielder Dylan Carlson, the Cardinals' top prospect, is being called up and will join the team in Chicago. Carlson, 21, slashed .292/.372/.542 with 26 homers and 68 RBIs in 126 games last season split between Double-A Springfield and Triple-A Memphis.

Other prospects who are being called up as reinforcements for Saturday's restart include pitchers Seth Elledge, Ricardo Sanchez, and Rob Kaminsky, plus first baseman John Nogowski, according to Anne Rogers of MLB.com.

Jose Oquendo will also rejoin the team and act as their third base coach, Mozeliak said.