Cubs’ Kyle Hendricks scratched from start vs. Brewers; Matt Duffy goes on COVID-related injured list

MILWAUKEE — Right-hander Kyle Hendricks was scratched minutes before his scheduled start Tuesday against the Brewers. The Cubs said Hendricks wasn’t feeling well and made the decision to postpone his start out of an abundance of caution. Right-hander Alec Mills started in his place.

The news came hours after the Cubs put infielder Matt Duffy on the COVID-related injured list and a day after they announced bullpen coach Chris Young tested positive for COVID-19 and put three players on the COVID-related IL on Monday.

Infielder Ildemaro Vargas was recalled from the Cubs’ alternate site in South Bend, Indiana, to replace Duffy, who joined right-handers Jason Adam, Dan Winkler and Brandon Workman on the COVID-related IL.

The Cubs now have four players on the COVID-related IL and two coaches who have tested positive for the virus in the last four days, but no player has tested positive for it. The team is being extremely cautious about even the slightest symptoms.

‘‘I would tell you right now, with protocols and being extra cautious, if you have a headache, if you have a runny nose, if you have body aches, if you have just about anything going on that is, would or could be one of the 10 COVID symptoms, we’re going to err on the side of caution,’’ manager David Ross said. ‘‘There has been a big change of climate here. This goes in general for the guys who are on that list. This is not any specific person, but there’s been some guys just dealing with some symptoms that we want to be cautious about.’’

While Young and first-base coach Craig Driver contracted the virus, Ross made a point to share more information with their permission. Ross said both coaches had received at least one dose of the COVID-19 vaccine. Young had been fully vaccinated but hadn’t reached the two-week mark after his second shot that it takes for immunity. The Cubs think he contracted the virus before receiving his second dose.

‘‘I realize there’s a lot of information about people out there and stuff that gets flying around,’’ Ross said. ‘‘We can’t give everybody’s medical information out. These guys allowed me to do that. I’ve talked to [Chris] and Craig at length, and they don’t want to scare anybody. They think the fact they’ve had the shot is actually a positive and would recommend everybody to get the shot.

‘‘They think the reason why they feel as good as they do is because they’ve had some version of the shot. So I wanted to get that information out there for them. We are taking this seriously, and we’re trying to get everybody as vaccinated as we possibly can.’’