Cleveland Indians outfielder Leonys Martin is in stable condition while battling a life-threatening bacterial infection that attacked his internal organs.
On Monday, Indians president Chris Antonetti addressed the team, saying that Martin had been at the Cleveland Clinic for nearly a week receiving treatment for the infection.
Martin Improving After Rapid Infection
Martin felt sick on Wednesday after playing for Cleveland the previous day, and decided to go to the hospital that night. By Thursday, he had been placed on the disabled list with what was at the time an unknown ailment.
On Friday, manager Terry Francona revealed that Martin was receiving treatment at the Cleveland Clinic, though he couldn’t disclose the nature of the condition due to privacy concerns from Martin’s family.
“What I would say, if you believe in saying prayers and things like that, keep him in your thoughts,” Francona told reporters before the team’s game Friday against the White Sox in Chicago.
On Monday, Antonetti told reporters that the illness had been severe, but that Martin had started to turn the corner and was now in stable condition.
“Leonys had a bacterial infection that entered his bloodstream and when it entered his bloodstream it produced toxins,” Antonetti said. “Those toxins did damage to his internal organs and the functioning of those organs was compromised, and it was severe. Thankfully, he’s made a lot of progress in the last 24 to 36 hours and he’s regained a lot of the organ function.”
Antonetti told reporters that he did not yet have a specific name for the illness Martin was suffering from, nor did they know how the bacteria infected him.
“It’s not a communicable thing,” he said. “It can’t be transferred from one person to the next, but the bacteria somehow entered his bloodstream. We don’t yet know how. I’m not sure we will know how.”
No Timetable for Return
Martin is a recent addition to the Cleveland roster, being acquired in a trade from the Detroit Tigers on July 31, just before the non-waiver trade deadline. The 30-year-old primarily plays centerfield, and is hitting .255 with 11 home runs on the year. He was off to a fast start in his new home, going 5-15 with two homers in his first six games with the Indians.
While losing their new addition will certainly cause problems for Cleveland on the field, the team made it clear that how this would impact their baseball operations is the furthest thing from their mind.
“The medical team is optimistic that he will make a full recovery. But progress is expected to be slow,” the Indians said in a statement. “The collective focus is to help Leonys return to full health and there have been no considerations regarding a timeline for his return to baseball activities.”
Antonetti echoed that sentiment, saying that “progress will be measured in weeks, not days.”
Leonys, who was born in Cuba, is currently in his eighth Major League season. He spent most of his career with the Texas Rangers before playing for the Seattle Mariners, the Chicago Cubs, Detroit and Cleveland.
