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David Ross set to return to Cubs’ dugout in Sunday finale against Giants

3 years agoAndy Martinez

After bench coach Andy Green’s first full day as Cubs interim manager on September 3, he had a text message at late that night from David Ross.

“He sent me a text at midnight about a play I needed to show the guys that happened in the Dodgers-Giants [game],” Green said on September 4. “This guy’s locked into baseball every day.”

That seam-head mentality hasn’t left Ross while he’s been in isolation after testing positive for COVID-19 earlier this month.

“He’s watched a ton of baseball,” Green said. “He’s gonna come back with 312 new ideas that we’re gonna have to sort through.”

That’s why Green has had to monitor his notifications so that he won’t get woken up by messages from Ross.

“He’s on do not disturb,” Green said with a laugh.

Ross will come off Green’s “do not disturb list” on Sunday when he makes his return to the Cubs. It will mark exactly 10 days since Ross last managed the Cubs in person after testing positive.

“I think he’s been in great health the whole time,” Green said. “His time is up from a quarantine perspective.”

Outside of physical presence, though, Ross hasn’t really been away from the team. He’s still put together each day’s lineup card and consulted with his coaching staff and medical teams about the status of players and where they stand health-wise.

Well, there is one thing that has been a bit different with Ross’ absence.

“It’s a lot quieter,” Green said with a smile.

As a former manager, Green appreciates what that energy from Ross brings to the clubhouse.

“Everybody enjoys being around him every single day and there’s also at times with him there’s a sharp edge that’s good for a culture and good for a clubhouse,” Green said. “He expects to win no matter what roster we have or don’t have and he creates a nice culture that way.”

With Ross’ return and no more new positives, it has Green a little relieved that the positive case didn’t spread into anything worse. But there’s no lowering of the guard for him or the Cubs when it comes to the virus.

“We’ll continue our vigilance, but you’re not free of this just because you dodged one bullet,” Green said. “There’s a lot of bullets out there.”

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