MILWAUKEE -- General manager David Stearns has asked himself the question as baseball prepares to begin a regular season amid a pandemic, and he figures many executives across the game have pondered the same:

Is this the right thing to do?

For Stearns, the answer is yes.

“Look, I think those are all very reasonable questions, and something that I think everyone here has grappled with to some extent,” Stearns said. “We want to be part of the solution. We don’t want to exacerbate any problem. I believe that to this point, we have a chance to be part of the solution, and we have a chance to provide diversion and entertainment. But we also understand that if it ever veers into exacerbating a problem, then that’s a sign for us to probably stop.

“To this point, I’m comfortable that what we are doing is right, that trying to do this is the right thing to do, and that doing it as cautiously and carefully as possible gives us the best chance.”

Around baseball, GMs are working together to keep the game going, according to Stearns.

“We all want to do what’s best,” he said. “There is still a great deal of conversation among executives in the league about how things are going in various camps, how different organizations are approaching this. We’re all trying to learn from each other and do the best we can. We recognize that as an industry, our fates are very much tied together this year.”

Here are three other takeaways from Stearns’ weekly Zoom session:

1. The Brewers are optimistic about banged-up Keston Hiura and Brett Anderson.
When Hiura was scratched from Wednesday’s intrasquad game with a fatigued right arm and Anderson’s start was cut short after two innings because of a blister on his left index finger, it marked the Brewers’ first known medical matters unrelated to COVID-19 since the restart. Stearns is hopeful about both situations.

• Hiura (arm fatigue) scratched as precaution

“Keston has a little bit of arm soreness. At this point we’re not particularly concerned about it,” he said. “We’ll probably give him a couple days off and then take it from there. But at this point we don’t see this as something that is potentially lingering.”

Hiura has an injured ligament in his right elbow dating back to his days at UC-Irvine, but Stearns said the current issue seems unrelated, and said Hiura seemed in good spirits when he saw him on Wednesday night.

As for Anderson, he will refrain from throwing for several days before the Brewers re-evaluate his status. Before the blister, he appeared to be lined up to start the second game of the regular season at Wrigley Field. Stearns said the Brewers expect to know more about Anderson's status by Monday at the latest.

In other personnel matters:

• Left-hander Eric Lauer, who reported late because he’d been in close contact with an individual who tested positive for COVID-19, has thrown at least one bullpen since joining camp. It’s to be determined, Stearns said, whether Lauer will be part of the Opening Day roster.

• Luis Urías is still in quarantine after testing positive for COVID-19 prior to intake. (Urias authorized the Brewers to report the positive test.) He has been asymptomatic the whole time but must produce consecutive negative tests at least 24 hours apart before he can join camp.

“This is something that we’re going to be dealing with the entire year. Every club is,” Stearns said. “You just don’t know how long it takes to [shake] the virus. Sometimes it’s gone pretty quickly, and sometimes it can take weeks or even months. I know Luis is enormously frustrated, especially since he feels completely healthy. He feels like he can be on the baseball field right now. He feels like he can be ready for Opening Day. But clearly, we have protocols in place for a reason, and we need to follow them.”

• Keon Broxton has been away from camp a few days, but for a happy reason: He is the father of a baby boy born Tuesday. “He is healthy and happy!” said Broxton, who was scheduled to return to Milwaukee on Friday. He will have to undergo COVID-19 testing before returning to active duty.

2. Expect the unexpected as rosters get set.
Several of the non-roster invitees to Summer Camp have “out” clauses in their contracts for this weekend and into early next week, Stearns said. He didn’t specify the players, but such clauses are often included for veterans in camp on Minor League deals, players such as Shelby Miller, Logan Morrison and Justin Grimm.

All around the game, teams have similar decisions to make. The Brewers left two open spots in their 60-man player pool to accommodate potential additions.

“A lot of the available players that we find at the end of a conventional Spring Training are players who take opt-outs or players who request their releases when they don't make an original big league club,” Stearns said. “It remains to be seen whether players still want to do that in this environment. I don't really know how to handicap that one way or the other."

3. Camp Appleton is opening.
In Grand Chute, Wis., the home of the Brewers’ Class A Wisconsin Timber Rattlers just outside Appleton, members of the 60-man player pool who were not invited to Summer Camp at Miller Park were undergoing intake testing as of Thursday. That camp is tentatively set to open on Saturday under the watch of Minor League coaches Jake McKinley, Cam Castro, Ed Lucas, Nestor Corredor, Jim Henderson and, after he’s done with his stint at Miller Park, Timber Rattlers manager Matt Erickson.

That camp will have a mix of the Major League players who didn’t make Milwaukee’s Opening Day roster and some prospects who were invited to continue their development. The organization will try to be creative to keep players engaged.

“It's going to be a lot of intrasquads, and there will probably be some non-game-type competitive environments,” Stearns said. “It's going to be a challenge for both our coaches and players to keep up that level of intensity over two-plus months with what we're going to ask them to do."