The Kansas City Royals fans have been itching for the time that the Royals are relevant in September and playing in October consistently.
The time is now, but one bug could be hurting the Royals chance of playing well into October.
It was announced Tuesday that Royals pitcher Kelvin Herrera and outfielder Alex Rios have been diagnosed with chickenpox.
Straight Outta Kindergarten: Kansas City Royals Hit by Chickenpox http://t.co/24ZbCwzq1d
— Fran Burnett (@BurnettFran) September 2, 2015
Herrera and Rios will be out for two weeks and Royals Athletic Trainer Nick Kenney will be monitoring the rest of the team to avoid an outbreak.
This comes at a time that the Royals will attempt to keep their home-field advantage in the American League for the playoffs.
Here's a problem the #Royals didn't expect to have in September: chickenpox. Kelvin Herrera, Alex Rios infected: http://t.co/npFYVX1U5B
— FOX Sports (@FOXSports) September 1, 2015
Many of the Venezuelan players, including Royals ace Yordano Ventura, said they have never had the chickenpox and have never been given shots to prevent the disease.
Edison Volquez said he had chickenpox as a kid. Yordano Ventura didn't but said he isn't worried. When asked why, he flexed his biceps.
— Jeff Passan (@JeffPassan) September 1, 2015
Rios showed symptoms of chickenpox before being sent back to Kansas City while in Tampa Bay for a weekend series with the Rays. After Herrera was seen have similar symptoms, he was sent home as well and will not be with the team until at least the middle of the month.
Luckily for the Royals, they have a comfortable lead in the American League Central so holding back some of their main roster guys shouldn’t be too much of a problem when it comes to making the playoffs.