Jesse Rogers notes the following:
One more factor to consider is an end-of-season tie for the playoffs. That would extend the regular season up to several days adding service time to Bryant potentially giving him a full year if he comes up this Friday. As slim as that possibility is -- combined with the trend of starting rookies on the road -- it makes his debut more likely to happen next week at the earliest.
Like Theo hasn't thought of that, right? A Cubs tie for the playoffs, extending Bryant's regular season service time opportunities. We can't have that.
So, forget about Friday or this weekend.