Following safety rules has gone smoothly for Cubs. Beating Cardinals — and addressing bullpen issues — will be tougher.

Chicago Cubs manager David Ross scanned Major League Baseball’s new memo detailing stricter COVID-19 protocols — most of which the Cubs already were enforcing.

The bigger challenge for the Cubs occurs this weekend when they visit St. Louis to face the rival Cardinals, who will be playing their first games since July 29 after seven players and six staff members tested positive for the coronavirus.

“We have to trust the process,” Ross said Thursday during a conference call after reviewing the memo again. “We all want to play baseball. We all want to compete against every team and want the season to continue (through the playoffs). And everybody wants to put together a great season.

“I know Major League Baseball wants that. Part of the reason for the new protocols is to reiterate the details we need to follow. And we understand (the Cardinals) had an issue and (MLB) has been very open and continues to do everything they can to tell us the things that are going on in St. Louis and why it’s safe to go there.”

The only major adjustment for the Cubs will be the requirement that every player and staff member wear a face mask at all times. The only exception is those on the field.

Infielder David Bote acknowledged that will be a challenge for some teammates but joked that “you wear a mask in the cold in Chicago in April anyway.”

“But it’s some across the world that are making adjustments, in their workplaces and life, in order to make something happen,” Bote said. “And that’s something we’ll embrace and something to be aware of.

“Having a box of masks as you come off the field and put on is something simple to do. But it adds another layer, an extra thought that you really weren’t thinking of if you’re in the game, to come off the field and immediately put a mask on.”

The Cubs already followed many of the new rules MLB officially instituted Thursday, such as wearing masks in public and at hotels. MLB warned that severe penalties will be assessed to violators.

Many of the Cubs ate in their hotel rooms during their first trip to Cincinnati last week, and they gathered in outdoor places that the team authorized. They also wore masks on their flights to and from Cincinnati.

“At this point, we’re such routine-oriented people,” Bote said. “You add something to what you do daily (and it) becomes second nature.

“It’s really not that big of an issue to mask up, put it on and cover your face and make sure we can keep people healthy. That’s first and foremost, and to finish the season.”

All members of the traveling party must contact the team’s compliance officer if they want to leave the hotel. Pitching coach Tommy Hottovy, a Kansas City-area native and COVID-19 survivor, passed up a chance this week to meet his mother for lunch and visit his sister, a third-grade teacher who recently gave birth to a son.

As a consolation, that gave Hottovy more time to help Ross assess the back end of the bullpen while they try to fix struggling closer Craig Kimbrel.

One potential option is for Ross to follow a formula that worked well Tuesday night, when Jeremy Jeffress faced the top of the Royals order in the eighth, and continue to find pockets of the batting order with which Jeffress matches up well.

Rowan Wick was warming up to pitch the ninth in a save situation Wednesday night before the Cubs added two more runs, which allowed Ross to employ Colin Rea in a non-save situation.

“I trust (Jeffress) in any spot in the lineup,” Ross said. “I trust Wick in any spot in the lineup, but we also try to make it as easy as possible with the pitch characteristics they have and where the holes might be with the hitters they’re facing.”

The Cubs are down to one left-handed reliever — Kyle Ryan — after optioning Rex Brothers and Justin Steele to South Bend on Thursday, when active rosters had to be trimmed from 30 players to 28.

“I’m going to have to be careful with (Ryan) and make sure I don’t wear him out,” Ross said. “I trust him in a lot of areas.”

Left-hander Brad Wieck, on the 10-day injured list with a hamstring strain, is making progress but is not close to being activated, Ross said.

Left-hander Jose Quintana reportedly was fine after throwing 35 pitches in a simulated game in South Bend. Quintana, who is recovering from a cut nerve in his pitching thumb, is scheduled to throw a bullpen session Saturday with the likelihood he will pitch in another simulated game Tuesday.

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