Brewers Reliever Reportedly Lost Nine Pounds After Catching Mysterious Illness

The Milwaukee Brewers are having an enjoyable spring training so far, but one player hasn't had a great experience off the field.

Setbacks in major league baseball can occur at anytime, mostly due to injuries. However, one hurler on the Brewers had an unexpected absence that led to a substantial weight loss.

"Brewers reliever Nick Mears is back in camp nine pounds lighter after battling a stomach bug," MLB.com's Adam McCalvy wrote Thursday afternoon. "Said he'd never been sicker, spent multiple nights sleeping on the bathroom floor. He'll get 4-5 days to build strength before getting back on the mound."

Mears had a 5.93 ERA with a 75-to-24 strikeout-to-walk ratio, .268 batting average against and a 1.47 WHIP in 57 2/3 innings pitched across 54 games between the Brewers and Colorado Rockies last season. However, his underlying metrics were largely positive and Milwaukee will have a full season to optimize his output.

Exactly how much the nine-pound loss will affect the 28-year-old will come to light in no time, but for now the righty appears to be focusing on getting back on the mound.

There isn't any word yet on if any other players in the clubhouse caught the stomach bug, so we can hope Mears was the only player affected -- but it could be something to monitor.