Brewers trainer Dave Yeager hospitalized

April 4th, 2021

MILWAUKEE -- Following a scary situation in the ninth inning of the Brewers’ loss to the Twins on Saturday, Milwaukee assistant athletic trainer Dave Yeager spent the night in the hospital after a pair of bouts with lightheadedness.

With two outs in the ninth inning and Twins closer Alex Colomé pitching to Brewers left fielder Christian Yelich, home plate umpire C.B. Bucknor was struck in the neck by a pitch that caromed off the leg of Minnesota catcher Ryan Jeffers. Bucknor went down to a knee and several medical officials, including Yeager, checked on him.

Bucknor eventually was able to get to his feet, but once he did, Yaeger went down. At that point, Twins players were told to leave the field. They only returned after Yeager got to his feet and was able to walk off.

In his postgame press conference, Brewers manager Craig Counsell said he and the medical staff believed Yeager stood too abruptly and lost his equilibrium, and would be OK. Little did Counsell know at the time, Yeager was beginning to feel symptoms once again.

“Unfortunately, actually as I was just talking to you, leaving you guys last night, Dave was lightheaded again,” Counsell said Sunday morning. “And so he was evaluated by doctors and our medical staff, and eventually he spent the night in the hospital. Essentially he was just extremely dehydrated, and he still remains in the hospital. He's doing better. He's doing fine and he's under good care. I hope that he's released today, and we'll go from there.”

Yeager is in his 17th season with the Brewers and 10th in his current role. He started with the Brewers at Double-A Huntsville in 2005 and was named Southern League athletic trainer of the year in 2007.

“It was tough. You never want to see anybody go down, and it was such a weird circumstance where C.B. gets hit and you’re thinking they’re going to change umpires and then next thing you know, Dave goes down,” said Brewers pitcher Brett Anderson, who is scheduled to start Monday against the Cubs at Wrigley Field. “We wish him the best and hopefully it’s nothing too serious. I was telling someone yesterday, ‘You think you’ve seen it all in this game and then something like that happens in the ninth inning.’ It’s scary, but it doesn’t sound like it’s too, too serious. Hopefully he’s fine.”

The hospital stay, it seems, was more precautionary in nature. Counsell said as far as he knows, Yeager is recovering well. Though Counsell hopes Yeager is released sometime Sunday, he didn’t have any more information on Yeager’s situation.

“That's all I have. That's all that I know,” Counsell said. “I mean, they don't believe it's serious, but anytime you're spending the night in the hospital, obviously we're concerned.”

Last call

• Part of the Brewers’ plan to move him around the field this season, infielder Orlando Arcia made his first career start at third base against the Twins on Sunday. Arcia, who normally plays at shortstop, made 10 starts at third and played 52 innings at the position during Spring Training before appearing at the position for the first time in a regular-season game on Saturday night.

• The Brewers' first road trip begins at 6:40 p.m. CT Monday against the Cubs at Wrigley Field. Brett Anderson will get the start against Chicago, the first of nine games in which the teams face off in April alone. The teams split the season series 5-5 in 2020, though Milwaukee won 4 of 7 at Wrigley.

“I think the way the schedule always works, there's one team in your division that you're going to play a ton early. So, it's the Cubs this year,” Counsell said. “They're a good team, they're a rival. They're a team that the games matter.”