Milwaukee Brewers star Christian Yelich tested positive for COVID-19 on Monday and is experiencing "mild symptoms," according to David Stearns, the team's president of baseball operations.
Yelich, 29, will be out a minimum of 10 days while teammate Jace Peterson has been placed on the COVID-19 injured list, as well, due to contact tracing. He'll be out for a week.
"He's in good spirits. He's resting," Stearns said on a Tuesday conference call. "It's certainly our hope he can knock this out quickly."
The positive test triggered contact tracing protocols which delayed Milwaukee's flight to Pittsburgh where the Brewers open a series against the Pirates Tuesday night. The team flew there on Tuesday morning instead of Monday night.
Stearns believes only Yelich and Peterson will be impacted by the positive testing.
"I'm very confident we've satisfied those protocols and doing everything possible to keep our group healthy and safe," he said. "I do think our group has taken this seriously from the beginning."
Yelich is fully vaccinated with Stearns noting the "change" is in the virus, as the mutated Delta variant has become the prominent strain in the country. The former MVP had a mild fever on Monday.
"He has taken the precautions seriously and the guidelines seriously," Stearns said.
Stearns felt there would be no disruption in Tuesday's game. Yelich has been out of the lineup several times this season due to a bad back and now will miss more games due to COVID-19.
"I don't think this has been his favorite year, in totality," Stearns said. "He's dealt with a lot. This is just another challenge that he's going to overcome."
Outfielder Lorenzo Cain will be activated from the injured list while infielder Pablo Reyes is being recalled from Triple-A to take Yelich and Peterson's places on the roster.