Behind the Illness Spreading Through the Blue Jays' Clubhouse

At least five players have missed games with a viral illness that's bounced around the Blue Jays' clubhouse since spring training.

NEW YORK — It hit Kevin Kiermaier in the middle of the night.

A few hours later, another wave. And one more vomiting session when he got up in the morning.

In the early hours of May 17th, Kiermaier became the latest victim of the illness spreading throughout the Blue Jays' clubhouse. Sickness proliferating in an MLB locker room is nothing new, it happens to almost every team, every season. But, this illness has lingered with Toronto since spring training and forced at least five Jays out of the lineup.

"This has been a little bit extreme, I think," manager John Schneider said. "But, I think guys are handling it as best they can."

Categorized as a viral illness, the sickness hits each player or coach differently. Some show symptoms of only congestion and sore throat while others are limited to body aches. But, in its worst form, the illness saps players of their energy, eliminates appetite, and induces nausea for 48 to 72 hours.

In spring, both Alejandro Kirk and Brandon Belt missed time with what were deemed “non-COVID related illnesses,” though it's unclear if they were the same sickness that's carried into the season — Belt believes his spring sickness was different. Danny Jansen and Matt Chapman were the first players to miss regular season games with the bug, sitting out April contests. In May, it was George Springer's turn.

Springer showed up to Fenway Park before a series opener against the Red Sox with the full array of symptoms — fatigue, dehydration, nausea — and was scratched from the lineup that night. The outfielder missed one more game on the road trip, but was mostly able to play through symptoms, showing up to the trainer's room early for rest and hydration. When he fully recovered, Springer was down 15 pounds, he said.

“I’ve been part of teams where colds and stuff happen," Springer said. "Guys get stomach bugs and all sorts of stuff. It’s a locker room, guys are going to get sick. But this one seems to just pick one or two guys off at a time. It just kind of goes from guy to guy."

Kiermaier caught the bug during a mid-May flare when several players and players' family members got sick. The centerfielder felt the illness coming after a loss to the Yankees on May 16th and it hit him like a sudden wave that night.

With the same symptoms as Springer, Kiermaier lost five or six pounds in a few days. Food either came back up or "out other places," Kiermaier said. The Jays were going to send the outfielder home one day, but with a short bench for the final two games of the Yankees’ series, the outfielder hung out in an “auxiliary locker room” if the team needed a body to go stand in center.

“With how bad I was feeling I was like ‘Oh my gosh,’” Kiermaier said. “But thankfully avoided that.”

The Blue Jays' main methods of treatment have been rest and hydration. For Belt, the sickness' most recent victim, a few days off and plenty of liquid were enough. In some cases, the Jays have even had to administer hydration via IV.

For Kiermaier and Belt, the fatigue and weakness lingered for a few days, even after "recovery" from the illness. Belt bounced back quicker than some of his teammates, missing just two games, but even he's not back to 100% yet, the veteran said Saturday in New York.

The most perplexing part has been the sickness' pace. Often, colds rip through a clubhouse in a few days or weeks, but this one's stuck with the Jays since spring training, falling on two or three individuals every few weeks. Both Springer and Kiermaier noted that players getting sick in a clubhouse was normal, but the illness' slow spread was the bizarre part.

The Jays aren't overly concerned with the sickness' staying power. In some ways, Toronto is lucky. The bug didn't rapidly rip through the entire roster like some viral illnesses could, and there haven't been any repeat victims, anecdotally suggesting some kind of built immunity.

When it comes to stopping the sickness, the team has found it difficult. At Rogers Centre, the Jays have taken some extra steps to make sure "things are clean and disinfected," Schneider said. But when the entire team is packed into the same clubhouse, plane, and bus, the illness has the home-field advantage.

"Try to just wash your hands and be safe," Schneider said. "You never know with a viral illness, it could just be a weird thing."

This story was updated for clarity on Sunday, June 4th.