Atlanta Braves News: Jorge Soler Out of NLDS with Positive COVID Test

Some last minute and unfortunate news broke for the Atlanta Braves as Jorge Soler has tested positive for Covid-19. 

The Atlanta Braves learned Tuesday afternoon that their leadoff slugger, Jorge Soler, received a positive diagnosis for Covid-19.

Due to this, Soler had to be replaced on the roster for the remainder of the NLDS against the Brewers.

Christian Pache was recalled to replace this roster spot and he will remain there until Soler is allowed to return to the team.

This also meant that manager Brian Snitker had to tweak his lineup at the last minute for game 4.

Dansby Swanson is now leading off and Guillermo Heredia is batting 8th and taking over duties in center field. Duvall will move to left field and Pederson to right field.

This isn’t a huge blow to the Atlanta Braves but it certainly is a tough loss as Soler has been a great lead off option for the team since coming over from Kansas City with a .358 OPB since joining Atlanta.

It’s likely he will have to be absent from the team for at least 10 days, which means if the Braves advance he’d miss most of the NLCS as well.

And let’s just hope this doesn’t turn into a big outbreak and several of the other Braves players test positive. This team has done well to avoid any major Covid-19 issues all year, now is not the best time to start.

Soler is 1-for-11 in this NLDS with a double and a couple of walks. But he’s also had some really nice at-bats and just missed a couple of home runs.

This isn’t going to ruin the Braves chances of clinching a spot in the NLCS. All the Braves need to do is go out there and play their brand of baseball and everything should work out the way it’s meant to.

Let’s hope I don’t regret those words later.