Chicago's air is heavily polluted due to Canadian wildfires. Here's the latest on whether or not the Cubs will play today.
Record-setting Canadian wildfires continue to pollute the air in Canada and the Continental United States this summer. Earlier this year, a New York Yankees game was postponed due to poor air quality in New York City from wildfires.
On Tuesday, Chicago's air quality is at "unhealthy" levels, and expected to remain that way through most of Tuesday.
Will Cubs play today with polluted air?
No official decision has been made yet regarding the Chicago Cubs' scheduled home game against the Philadelphia Phillies on Tuesday night. The game is scheduled for 7:05 p.m. central time, so there is still plenty of time for the air quality to improve before first pitch.
When the Yankees postponed their game weeks ago due to poor air quality in New York, the air quality index was above 200. On the northside of Chicago this morning, the AQI is 176.
The air quality is expected to be poor through most of Tuesday, well past the scheduled first pitch time. My educated guess, based on the Yankees game and related AQI then, is that the game will be postponed and played later this week in the afternoon before one of the other night games this week.
Possible alternative locations for Phillies-Cubs during wildfire incident
The most likely outcome, if the air quality is deemed too poor to play, is for the game to be postponed and played at Wrigley Field at a later date, perhaps even tomorrow or Thursday as part of a doubleheader.
If the Cubs do look to play the game tonight but feel Wrigley Field is unsuitable due to air quality concerns, there are some options, though it's unclear how possible those options are.
American Family Field (Brewers) in Milwaukee appears to be the best. Though air quality concerns exist in Milwaukee as well, the field can be closed in. The Brewers are in New York for a series against the Mets.
The next-best option in theory is Busch Stadium (Cardinals) in St. Louis. The Cardinals host a game there Tuesday night, so it's off the table.
Remember, though, that MLB teams are accustomed to having to postpone games due to weather and make them up at other times. Since this was scheduled to be the opening game in the series, there is still plenty of time this week to make the game up. Rerouting to another city is unlikely.
For the Cubs, who played in London over the weekend against the St. Louis Cardinals, a postponed game might not be the worst thing, giving players and coaches another day to get themselves rested over jet lag.