The Kansas City Royals are arguably one of the hottest teams in the MLB right now, boasting a record of 80-50 and leading the AL central by 13 games above the Minnesota Twins.
But this doesn’t mean the team isn’t prone to injuries like the rest of the MLB.
It seems the Royals are in a little bit of health crisis. Royals skipper Ned Yost, as well as some of the other Royal team members reached out to none other than their mothers and asked the question we all have asked our mothers at some point: “Mom, did I have the chickenpox as a kid?”
Well it seems for some players the answer was no. Outfielder Alex Rios and All-Star reliever Kelvin Herrera have come down with the virus and will be expected to miss at least two weeks. Both Herrera and Rios left the team over the weekend and flew back to Kansas City before the series ended. An examination Monday confirmed the diagnosis.
Royals officials are slated to address the situation before tonight’s game against the Detroit Tigers. The team believes the infection is only limited to Herrera and Rios. Though the situation sounds more amusing than worrisome, the reality of it is far more serious given the severity of the virus when adults catch it.
” For adults who get chickenpox, it tends to be much more severe,” said Rafael Harpaz, a medical epidemiologist from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. (per Andy McCullough, kcstar.com).
Manager Ned Yost believes Rios was the first to catch it and he scratched the outfielder from Saturdays game. The team decided to send him home to Kansas City, but felt uncomfortable flying him on a commercial flight, so they chartered him a private jet.
Upon discovering the infections to Rios and Herrera, trainer Nick Kenney scoured the clubhouse asking players about their history with chickenpox.
“They need to make sure everyone is immune to the virus. Either by getting it as a child or receiving the vaccine.” Hapaz said.
With some luck, only two Royals were the only ones who contracted the virus. And with two weeks rest and some of moms chicken noodle soup, they can return to help their teammates get to the World Series and finish where they left off last year.