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When, the St. Louis Cardinals travel to Canada for a series against the Toronto Blue Jays, they will be without two of their best players. Nolan Arenado and Paul Goldschmidt will not join the team because of current vaccine mandates. This makes the series even tougher for the Cardinals, who need to be at their best against the Blue Jays.
Ben Fredrickson was the first to report that these two All-Stars will not make the trip north of the border.
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This led to a divisive reaction among St. Louis Cardinals fans. Since they want to win as many games as possible in order to make the playoffs, they want to see the stars play.
Some were more forgiving of the two stars and were able to look past the effect this will have on the upcoming series.
It is important to note that the United States has a similar vaccine mandate as Canada. If there were any players on the Toronto Blue Jays who were unvaccinated, they would not be able to cross the border either.
Can the St. Louis Cardinals beat the Toronto Blue Jays without Arenado and Goldschmidt?
Going into a series on the road against a team that is able to score in bunches without your top two offensive players is a tall order. The best option they have is to shut down the Blue Jays' explosive offense. This is a task that is far easier said than done.
The Toronto Blue Jays put up a whopping 40 runs in their last series against the Boston Red Sox. That is not a typo. They are going into this series against the Cardinals with confidence and momentum.
The St. Louis Cardinals are just 2.5 games behind the Milwaukee Brewers for the National League Central lead. This series up north could have been their opportunity to take that lead. Without Arenado and Goldschmidt, that seems impossible.
This is an issue that many teams across the MLB have had to deal with. As long as both countries maintain their vaccine mandates, it will be an issue for any player who is unvaccinated.
Fans just want to see their teams play at their best against the best opposition they can face. Missing out on seeing stars like Arenado and Goldschmidt perform is a tough break. It has fans concerned about how it will affect the team.
