The Kansas City Royals have hit an unexpected bump in their road to a repeat World Series bid. Or, to be more accurate, several bumps.
A chickenpox outbreak in the Royals clubhouse will leave outfielder Alex Rios and relief pitcher Kelvin Herrera out for at least two weeks, per Andy McCullough of the Kansas City Star. Both had been absent from the team since the weekend as they underwent testing. The Royals believe Rios and Herrera are the only two players affected at this time.
Team officials have not publicly commented but are expected to address the situation before Tuesday night’s game against the Detroit Tigers. No additional information about how the breakout began is available as of publication.
“A child might have a couple hundred lesions,” Rafael Harpaz, a medical epidemiologist from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, told McCullough. “An adult might have over 500. The likelihood that they’ll end up getting pneumonia is much higher. That’s pretty rare in children. So there’s a number of complications that are more common in adults than in children.”
Rios, 34, is hitting .253/.288/.333 with two home runs and 22 RBI this season. His illness will be somewhat offset by the return of Alex Gordon, who had been out since July with a strained groin.
“This is kind of a one-shot deal,” Kansas City manager Ned Yost said of Gordon over the weekend, per Laura McCallister of KCTV5. “He comes back and hurts it, he’s done. So we want to make sure that he’s in great shape, healthy and ready to go when he gets back.”
Still, it’ll be harder to work Gordon back into the lineup slowly if Rios is on the shelf for an extended period. The Royals are already stuck with Ben Zobrist playing an outfield spot rather than replacing Omar Infante at second base, which is probably their best long-term option given Infante’s offensive struggles.
Herrera is 4-2 with a 2.12 ERA and 0.99 WHIP this season but is far more replaceable. With its September call-ups, Kansas City has more arms on the roster than at any other point this season, so losing a reliever—even a talented one—isn’t a crushing blow.
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