The Washington Nationals will be down five players and a staff member for Opening Day after a player tested positive for COVID-19.

"We are following MLB protocols and CDC protocols and working closely with the league to determine our next steps," Mike Rizzo said. "It will be a lot of balls in the air until then."

The positive result came from a test conducted Monday while the Nationals were still in Florida for spring training.

The Nationals are scheduled to host the New York Mets on Thursday night for Opening Day.

Per MLB's health and safety protocols for 2021, the player who tested positive will be required to isolate for a minimum of 10 days, receive appropriate care and monitoring from the club medical staff, and be cleared by baseball's joint COVID-19 committee and the individual's team physician following a mandatory cardiac evaluation and a determination that the individual no longer presents a risk of infection to others.