Kansas City Royals second baseman Ben Zobrist might leave the team for a portion of the 2015 World Series to be with his pregnant wife, who is due to deliver soon.
The Royals have a commanding two-game lead over the New York Mets in the World Series. All facets of the game are clicking at the right time as they head on the road against the Mets in Game 3 Friday night.
A key reason why the Royals are playing with such consistency thus far is because of Zobrist, who was acquired at the trade deadline from the Oakland Athletics. However, the second baseman’s life is about to take a beautiful turn that could cause him to miss some of the World Series.
Julianna Zobrist is expecting the couple’s third child, and she is due at any moment. The wife of the Royals second baseman, and Christian music singer, is due on November 10, just three days after a possible Game seven of the World Series.
Zobrist will be faced with a near impossible decision — be the devout family man he is and tend to his wife or stay with the Royals and help them win their first World Series since 1985. If things start happening with his wife during the game, he won’t know about it until afterwards.
“She said, ‘You better hit a home run,’” Zobrist said, via the NY Post. “She already kind of let me know, if we’re in the middle of a game, she’s probably not going to tell me what’s going on, and that’s fine, I trust her and trust our family members around her.”
Since being acquire at the trade deadline, Zobrist hit .284 with 23 RBI and seven home runs in just 59 regular season games. He has been even more dominant this postseason, hitting .356 and belting two home runs. Prepping for the possibility that Zobrist might leave the team to be with his wife, the Royals added Raul Mondesi Jr. to their post season roster.
In this time of great stress and emotions, Julianna is trying to remain as calm as possible, and even took to Twitter to express her views on the situation.
https://twitter.com/JuliannaZobrist/status/659210676846632961
Some brands are also sending their well wishes to the Zobrist family. For instance, Huggies will be donating a day’s worth of diapers on behalf of every fan in attendance for tonight’s game.
We'll donate a day's worth of diapers to @diapernetwork banks in KC, NYC & Nashville for each fan attending tonight's big game. (2/3)
— Huggies® (@Huggies) October 30, 2015
Game three is set for 8 p.m. ET, and Zobrist plans on being in the lineup when Kansas City takes the field in Queens. We have seen many MLB players leave their teams in the past due to an expecting child, but none during the World Series.
What will Zobrist do? Only time will tell, but both his family and the Royals are depending on him to come through in the clutch.