Aug. 4: The Brewers announced yet another positive test: lefty Eric Lauer. He’ll head to the Covid list and be subject to a 10-day quarantine, at minimum. That move opens roster space to add righty Sal Romano, whom the Brewers claimed off waivers from the Yankees this week.
Lauer, acquired alongside Luis Urias in the trade that sent Trent Grisham and Zach Davies to San Diego, has quietly enjoyed a strong season in Milwaukee. He’s made 15 appearances — 11 starts, four bullpen outings — and notched a 3.50 ERA with a 22.9 percent strikeout rate and an 8.9 percent walk rate. He’s been brilliant as of late, too, making even a brief departure a tough blow to the Brewers. Over Lauer’s past seven outings (six starts, one relief appearance), he’s pitched to a 1.98 ERA with a 31-to-13 K/BB ratio through 36 1/3 frames.
Aug. 3: Milwaukee has also placed infielder Keston Hiura on the COVID-19 list, the team announced.
Aug. 2, 4:50pm: Hader indeed tested positive, tweets Adam McCalvy of MLB.com. He’ll be out a minimum of 10 days.
3:38pm: The Brewers have placed lefty Josh Hader on the Covid-19-related injured list, per a club announcement. Newly added righty John Axford has been selected to the Major League roster in a corresponding move. The team did not specify whether Hader has tested positive or was a close contact. Individuals who test positive are subject to a 10-day quarantine, while close contacts are subject to seven-day absences.
It’s been another dominant season for the 21-year-old Hader, who has pitched to a sterling 1.83 ERA while striking out 45 percent of his opponents against a 9.4 percent walk rate through 39 1/3 innings thus far in 2021. Hader is the latest in a growing number of Brewers to hit the Covid IL, joining bullpen-mates Hunter Strickland, Jandel Gustave and Jake Cousins as well as right fielder Christian Yelich.
With Hader sidelined for a yet-unknown period of time, right-hander Devin Williams figures to step in as the primary option in save situations for manager Craig Counsell. Brent Suter, Brad Boxberger and the recently acquired John Curtiss will be among the first names up for setup work.
galldarnit
Achooo!
Was afraid of that.
I’m surprised the entire bullpen isn’t on COVID close contact IL
They got Axford for $1 from Toronto. No joke
Apparently that was an overpay.
Is Danny Kolb busy? Maybe he has 10 or 20 pitches left in his arm.
It was an overpay! Had to fly him in and stitch a uni!!
How about Turnbull?
He pitched like it…
Pirates are happy to hear this at the start of their series with the Brewers tonight.
Brewers don’t need Hader to beat the lowly Buccos
lmao
I hope the Bucs take at least 2 of 3 after hearing some say the Brewers do not need a star player to beat a team, ANY team….that’s why they call it a TEAM sport; NOT a most of our team sport!
wow, relax dude… if any team adheres to the “team sport” mentality, its Milwaukee… no team utilizes their farm system better, and because of that there are plenty of serviceable arms ready to take Haders spot for the next week plus. not to mention, brewers did outscore the buccos 28-3 last series, so yeah, Hader was not needed. get over it.
Sports freak…he hasn’t pitched against the Pirates all year because it hasn’t been close. But he is always missed.
He’s pitched twice since the all-star break. So yeah as good as he is, he’s not needed. Brewers pitching is stacked
The Crew is 7.5 games up, even if there pitching wasn’t stacked, I think they’re probably pretty cool. (I am a Cubs fan and not a Brewers fan)
Not needed for Pittsburgh, more than likely. The do have this team from the west coast coming this weekend. I heard the giants are pretty good
Devin Williams up. Woot!
Boxberger will get the first save chance. Bad timing with the Giants coming to town over the weekend
And now we know why Axford was claimed from the Jays
Harder seems to be the antivax type, considering his past history. Although who knows
he dropped his era and his age since 2020
hahaha, i caught that too! hader must have set some records pitching in games when he was 16 lol
Hader wishes he was still 21 years old, he’d make a fortune as a free agent if that was the case! He’s actually 27, so he’ll still do quite well when he hits free agency at age 30 I believe (2024).
I was literally about to say he’s not 21
Literally?
Literally
i believe hes a free agent after next season…
Nope.
Hader’s a FA after the 23 season. Woodruff-Burnes-Houser and Lauer after 24. Peralta after 26, Williams after 25. That’s quite the nightmare for NL hitters to deal with, isn’t it?
No fair. He had covid yesterday and closed the game. The pathetic Braves team could have won the game. Actually, never mind. Superstar Duvall is unfortunately not helping this team.
Stick some pie in that pie hole of yours Ian. You are the worst Braves fan ever posted. Somewhere there is a Bad News Bears you can root for. or do us a bigger favor, go root for the Mets.
Don’t be mad at me if the team sucks and AA is doing nothing to make them suck less.
Did you read his quote about his deadline interests? Yet again it is the old fake story, “We were in on this and that, but the price was too high.” Thanks, AA, we heard this since you got the job.
I’m not mad at you Ian, I feel sorry for you, they never should have released you from the hospital. when they did. How was the electric shock? You kept saying to the doctors, “I hate AA”, I hate AA”. You need a soothing soul to come in a stroke your temples. Juliet Lewis said she was available
Your personal insults basically prove you have nothing to add along and just defending them for sake of fandom. LM’s and AA’s wallets are big enough to fit in you and all the casuals who think this organization is in good shape.
Ian. Ian, Ian. It’s sad to see you all alone. Braves fans wish you a speedy recovery. In the mean time the Mets, Pirates, & Tigers have issued you fan applications. Please, please, pick one.
Duvall is completely overrated. Hot start early in his career and they figured him out
That’s why about a month ago he was 2nd in the NL with 68 RBIs
He’s streaky, but so is Pederson, Soler & Rosario. A great move by AA
Eventually this outfield will rock the NL
Reds are so sad to hear this
Q the anti-vax crowd and conspiracy nuts. Like flies to honey.
He looked fine when he was striking out Braves-this IL looks suspicious to me.. I’d heard in that Braves game that Brewers wanted him to rest for a long period of time. Something stinks about this IL BS.
i mean, you still need a positive test to utilize the covid list…
Time to shut this down for a while! mostly non baseball!
What’s suspicious is GA’s voter laws. The Braves are guilty by association! No all star game and no post season for punishment. Oh, btw, cb Buckner sucks. Woodruff struck out Swanson then was given an extra strike. It’s even
Well, if it isn’t the 2nd coming to baseball, Louholtz22, oh wait a minute, this is a baskekball genius who obviously doesn’t know baseball, a flaming lib who doesn’t want to give the ump his due. Do all baseball fans a favor & go crawl under the rock you came from.
CB missed the call ok? It was a front door slider that clipped the zone I can see why when it prolly had 15+ inches of movement
And Jace Peterson is also out for covid
He is back,just got activated! Pablo Reyes sent to minors. Thank You!
I don’t understand why Pablo Reyes is even in the rotation. There has to be someone better, please. It’s really Sterns only gaffe and it’s continual.
can the editor shut this down for cooler and saner heads to prevail. This one up here is going nuts!
Are you afraid of speech?
Afraid of the amount of stupid in our society
So you think that makes it ok to remove the right of those people to express their views?
No,just the majority of the comments are leaning looney!
They are just afraid of ideas that don’t fit their world view, or lack there of
It’s comforting knowing that a news article about a pitcher going on the IL can turn into a name calling political debate. Is that really all we think about these days?
As always if you don’t like it don’t read it. Don’t comment on it.
I bet the guys who run this site would tell you privately that guys like you are worse than any comments people make to each other. Get lost or speak your mind. Stop whining.
…… and this is why comments are often turned off on COVID posts.
Quit whining. It’s 2021 and a site about baseball. All the nonsense and drama is what’s keeping it alive.
This isn’t the old espn chat boards. But man why not? I sure miss that. They put an article up wait a few hours and go to the most liked comments they are either really poignant or really hilarious. The good Ole days…..
I myself am concerned enough that I wear a mask when posting a comment….
bobtillman, why does this guy 3 posts above you (16) have a “no reply” on his post?
mmm; dunno…doesn’t show up that way on my desktop….
Can anyone tell me why this “16” has no reply at all on his posts? What is he afraid of? An intelligent comeback?
I don’t like this MLBTR
If I muted someone, I never saw them at all. Maybe this is a mistake?
and what would your comeback be?
because he’s 100 percent right, stupid people are spreading christian flu (oops, covid).
sorry that your fantasy doesn’t match up with actual reality.
Wait, you think only religious people are capable of independent thought? How the “liberals” have fallen.
Well this sucks for Hader and Brewers fans.
figured comments would be a dumpster fire, and have been proven correct via the (alt) right folks in here.
hopefully we can finish out the season in spite of you folks, but we’ll see.
It’s not political in any way.
She blinded me with science!!!
This blog site is funnier than Sat. Night Live.
The adjectives are endless: staggering, disappointing, mostly shocking, stupefying, and often outrageous. Respect for fellow humans must be at an all time low in this country- and that is saying something given our country’s relatively short and nasty history.
Being young and healthy: great.
Further protected by vaccine: even better.
Hopefully their symptoms are mild to none and they are back to life and baseball soon.
Urias should be playing everyday.
“Last year was tough for many prospects, but perhaps none quite as much as Marco Rossi. Dealing with complications from COVID-19, Rossi was not only held off the ice but told he couldn’t even train, allowed on only short walks. His account of the situation is absolutely harrowing, as he told Michael Russo of The Athletic that “every time before I went to sleep, I was so scared that I won’t wake up anymore.” For a 19-year-old kid who was selected ninth overall and could have potentially made the jump immediately to the NHL, it was devastating.”
Just like most elite young athletes fear death every time they close their eyes and lose whole seasons of their careers to the flu all the time, right?
Harder is only 21?
Who is Harder?
See how lame that is? Gosh man. We are all bored but come on…..
This isn’t the first time that Lauer has been sidelined from Today’s Show.
Sure Marco Rossi was afraid, if he listened to any of the politicians or any of the talking heads in the media all he was told was that death was imminent. The media never questioned any political figure and went along with the narrative that Dr Death was waiting. Dictators rule by fear
That must be why Donnie and his merry band keep stoking the fires about radical Islamic terrorists, the socialist takeover, Covid outbreaks are caused by immigrants. Gotta keep their minions living in fear of someone. Right out of the Authoritarian handbook.
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Talksomesense
Sounds like you agree with the handbook but why argue about it anymore. Let’s all go eat ice cream in our basements and think it’s all ok
NA I would rather roll the dice and attend a packed conference with a bunch of mouth breathing unvaccinated dimwits who thInk wearing a mask takes away their freeeeedom .