Milwaukee Brewers outfielder Christian Yelich has tested positive for COVID-19 and has mild symptoms.
Yelich and cross-functional player Jace Peterson were on the COVID-19 roster, President of Operations David Stearns said Tuesday, adding that Peterson was quarantined due to contact tracing and not for testing positive.
Yelich – who received the vaccine against the virus – will miss at least 10 days from the first date he tested positive. Peterson will be out for at least seven days, Stearns said.
“This is clearly disappointing news for Christian,” Stearns acknowledged. “The most important thing for him is that he feels better. You have mild symptoms. I spoke to him in the morning. He’s in a good mood. He is resting ”.
The Brewers activated outfielder Lorenzo Cain from the disabled list and called up Triple-A Nashville infielder Pablo Reyes to fill the spaces as they prepare for the three-game series against Pittsburgh.
Cain hasn’t played since May 31 due to a strained right thigh.
The team delayed Monday’s night flight to Pittsburgh and did not depart until Tuesday while it conducted contact tracing and awaited the results.
“Having the day (Monday) off was positive and we were lucky with that,” Brewers manager Greg Counsell said. “I don’t think we are completely saved, but I think it is a good indication that we have had no concern of the virus spreading.”
Counsell indicated that Yelich was fine and added that “he’s just sad that he’s going to miss 10 days.”
Stearns acknowledged that Yelich got vaccinated at the start of the season along with most of his teammates. The Brewers announced on April 5 that the majority of the team had received a dose of Johnson & Johnson vaccine.
“He’s taken precautions and guidelines seriously all season,” Stearns warned. “Unfortunately yesterday she started having mild symptoms. He did the right thing and reported the symptoms. We did a test yesterday and we received the results in the afternoon ”.
This setback follows a frustrating trend for Yelich, named the 2018 National League MVP.
Yelich played a game over a five-week period between mid-April and mid-May due to a lumbar strain. He has a .235 batting average with 6 homers, 28 RBIs and .367 slugging percentage in 67 games. (AFP)