Two Royals players have been sidelined after being diagnosed with the chickenpox.
According to a report by Reuters , reported via Yahoo News , outfielder Alex Rios and reliever Kelvin Herrera have succumbed to the highly contagious illness and are expected to be out for up to two weeks. In the meantime, they are being quarantined in their homes to avoid spreading their disease.
Manager Ned Yost assured reporters, prior to Tuesday’s game against the Detroit Tigers, that the rest of the team seemed fine and were all fit to play.
Story on Royals chickenpox infection. Includes how one other team handles vaccination, plus NHL after mumps outbreak: http://t.co/6eTeTPo4Hc
— Jeff Passan (@JeffPassan) September 1, 2015
Rios first became ill on Saturday at Tampa Bay. He wasn’t feeling well, and then the spots started showing up.
“It was like, ‘What is this?’” Royals manager Ned Yost said, according to KRGV .
Nick Kenney, the trainer, said he wasn’t sure what the bumps were and originally speculated them to be bed bugs. However, after Rios was examined by his doctor, it was determined that he did, in fact, have the pox.
“It was like, ‘Wow, let’s hope nobody else gets it,’” Yost said. “And the next day Kel (Herrera) showed up with it. We haven’t had anybody else with it, so that’s good news. They’ll be away from the stadium until they are not contagious.”
Royals’ Kelvin Herrera and Alex Rios out at least 2 weeks with chickenpox http://t.co/rABzH64Qw0 pic.twitter.com/Fm6IDguRys
— Bleacher Report (@BleacherReport) September 1, 2015
While the rest of the team is currently feeling fine, there is still some concern that the rest of the players will come down with the sickness in the coming days.
“I think there is always a concern because these guys were in for three or four days before they showed signs of it,” Yost said. “Since that point, Nick has done a real good job of monitoring everybody. Time will tell, but we don’t have any more signs on anybody else having it.”
2 members of Kansas City Royals have chickenpox; AL Central leaders worried about spread http://t.co/o0KQFLOLVw #MLB pic.twitter.com/a73qfbB0zj
— AP Sports (@AP_Sports) September 1, 2015
“We’ve done everything we can to try to keep it at a minimum,” Yost added. “I never had anybody get the chickenpox (in baseball). It’s much better Aug. 28 than Sept. 25.”
[Photo via Shutterstock]
