In a season where they are struggling to stay above .500, the Washington Nationals are now having to deal with a potential biohazard as well.
Addressing the media on Friday, Nationals manager Dave Martinez revealed that the team had their clubhouse bleached because of a possible norovirus outbreak that sickened multiple players. Martinez added that righty Jeremy Hellickson was still ill and that catcher Spencer Kieboom was only now back to normal after a week, per Chelsea Janes of the Washington Post.
It has been a rough year so far for the Nationals, who are third in the NL East at 43-43 and are in danger of missing the playoffs for the first time since 2015.
Locker room bugs can wreak real havoc, as we saw with another MLB team. The timing of this news also has to be particularly concerning with the Nats set to host this year’s All-Star festivities in less than two weeks.
