MILWAUKEE — Milwaukee Brewers pitcher Josh Hader has been placed on the injured list due to COVID-19, the team announced Monday.
The Brewers have now added pitcher John Axford to the active roster. Jace Peterson was also reinstated from the injured list and Pablo Reyes was optioned to Triple-A Nashville, the team said in a post to social media.
Hader is not the first player to test positive for COVID-19 in recent days.
On Tuesday, the team announced Brewers outfielder Christian Yelich had tested positive for COVID-19 despite being fully vaccinated. Yelich was placed on the COVID-19 list and will miss a minimum of 10 days.
Then on Saturday, the Brewers said pitchers Jake Cousins and Hunter Strickland tested positive for COVID-19 and would be placed in quarantine. A third reliever, Jandel Gustave, missed Saturday night's game for the NL Central leaders in Atlanta due to contact tracing.
The Baltimore Orioles selected Hader in the 2012 draft, and he was traded twice before joining the Brewers in 2015. Hader is a three-time All-Star and two-time winner of the National League Reliever of the Year Award.
Through Aug. 1, Hader has a 15–13 win-loss record, with 2.43 earned run average, 447 strikeouts and 84 saves.
Also on Monday, the Brewers announcedthey have acquired right-handed relief pitcher and former Brewer John Axford from the Toronto Blue Jays.
Axford was traded from the Blue Jays in exchange for cash considerations, President of Baseball Operations David Stearns announced.
