There’s this false narrative out there that coronavirus really affects only the elderly and individuals with preexisting conditions.
Yes, both of those segments of the population are affected big-time, but able-bodied individuals also feel the wrath of the virus. Here’s the latest example.
The pitching coach just recently detailed his long fight with the virus that forced him into home isolation for a month.
“I felt it was important for me to talk through what I went through because too much of what’s out there is the easy stories of what people go through with this,” the 38-year-old Hottovy said on the Zoom conference call Wednesday, via ESPN’s Jesse Rogers. “If my journey through this helps one person realize how severe this can get, and that can save one life, then I want my story to be heard.”
An emotional Hottovy noted that he just didn’t feel right before testing positive and was concerned that he was putting his family at risk.
“For 30 days, this virus, it was always worse at night,” Hottovy said. “I wouldn’t sleep from midnight to six in the morning. Then from 6-10, I’d get some sleep. Every night, I’d get up at 2 and my wife would still be cleaning. She had to bring me food and water every day.”
This all comes with multiple Major League Baseball teams facing outbreaks of the deadly virus. It also comes with other professional athletes detailing just how contracting the virus has affected them health-wise. Obviously, the backdrop here is the start of the 2020 MLB season in about three weeks.
The 2020 MLB season is expected to start July 23
Hottovy said that it’s important to get baseball back. But he’s looking at it through a bigger lens, too.
“I want to do everything we can to bring baseball back to the fans,” Hottovy said. “We have to take care of ourselves and each other and hold each other accountable or it could easily get derailed.”
In his role with the Cubs since 2019, Hottovy said that his pitchers knew about him contracting COVID-19 early in the process. They noticed him being short of breath and other symptoms during Zoom calls.
This should act as a wake-up call to the countless young individuals who falsely believe that the virus can’t affect them. It should also act as a wake-up call for MLB as it prepares to start the 2020 season.
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