Cleveland ace Shane Bieber tests positive for COVID-19

The reigning American League Cy Young award winner will miss the start of spring training sessions after testing positive for COVID-19. 

As Daryl Ruiter of sports radio station 92.3 The Fan explained, Cleveland Indians president of baseball operations Chris Antonetti announced on Thursday that ace right-hander Shane Bieber has tested positive for the coronavirus. Per Antonetti, Bieber is experiencing "very, very mild symptoms" of the virus and could join the team within the next few days if he returns negative results and reports zero symptoms. 

Bieber dominated the competition throughout the pandemic-shortened 2020 season en route to earning his first Cy Young award. Per ESPN stats, the 25-year-old led the league with a 1.63 ERA and 122 strikeouts, and he finished the season tied with Yu Darvish of the Chicago Cubs atop the wins category with eight. Bieber became the 10th American League pitcher to be named the unanimous choice for the Cy Young award. 

Both MLB and the MLB Players Association expected there would be handfuls of positive tests among athletes who haven't been living under strict coronavirus-related health and safety guidelines since their teams finished competing last fall. The NBA and NHL have dealt with multiple outbreaks that caused dozens of postponements, and MLB will likely encounter similar setbacks as players and other personnel await vaccinations.