Braves star Freeman, 3 others test positive for virus

ATLANTA » Atlanta Braves four-time All-Star Freddie Freeman, premier reliever Will Smith and two teammates have tested positive for the coronavirus, a jarring hit to the NL East champions less than three weeks before the start of the pandemic-delayed season.

“It will be a while before we can get him back,” manager Brian Snitker said Saturday about Freeman.

Snitker said the four players, including right-hander Touki Toussaint and infielder Pete Kozma, agreed to have the team disclose their positive tests.

Snitker said Freeman had a negative intake test early in the week before having a positive test on Friday. Snitker said the first baseman has a fever and “is not feeling great.”

Freeman’s wife, Chelsea, posted on Twitter that he had “body aches, headaches, chills and a high fever.”

“He is someone who literally never gets sick and this virus hit him like a ton of bricks,” she said.

“We’ve been really strict for the last 4 months,” she wrote. “Haven’t gone to a grocery store, haven’t gone out to dinner once, haven’t seen our friends ... and still got it.”

It is too early to know if Freeman’s status for the start of the season could be jeopardized. Freeman, 30, set career highs with 38 home runs and 121 RBIs last season to help Atlanta win its second straight NL East title. He placed fourth in the NL MVP voting in 2018 after hitting .309 with 23 homers and winning a Gold Glove.

Snitker also said first base coach Eric Young Sr., 53, has opted out of for the season due to concerns about the COVID-19 pandemic.

Kansas City catcher Salvador Pérez and Twins first baseman Miguel Sanó also tested positive.

Giants catcher Buster Posey says he hasn’t ruled out the possibility of sitting out this season, assuming the games are actually played. The six-time All-Star isn’t yet convinced there will even be a season.

“The way I would project it is I wouldn’t be surprised by anything at this point,” Posey said. “I wouldn’t be surprised if we played 60 games with no hiccup and I wouldn’t be surprised if we didn’t play a game at all and I wouldn’t be surprised if we played half the games. That’s just the variability of this to me.”

Braves give no indication of considering name change

ATLANTA » With teams in two sports taking a second look at names deemed offensive to Native Americans, the Atlanta Braves on Saturday gave no indication they are willing to consider a similar change.

The Indians said Friday they’re reconsidering their nickname following the furor over the NFL Washington Redskins name.

The Braves released a statement saying the team “honors, supports, and values the Native American community. That will never change.”

The Braves said they “have much work to do on and off the field.”