When it was announced Thursday that Eduardo Rodriguez would be shut down from all baseball activities for a week, it was described as a "minor" health complication stemming from his bout with COVID-19.
This we know: It still remains to be seen how "minor" Rodriguez's situation is.
The Red Sox pitcher confirmed a WEEI.com report that the condition he is dealing with is myocarditis, which is an inflammation of the heart muscle brought usually brought on by a virus. It is the reason or Rodriguez's current inactivity, with the need to limit the heart's activity in order to let the inflammation subside.
"That's the most important part of your body," Rodriguez explained. "The first time I hear, I was kind of scared a little. Now that I know what it is, I'm still scared, but now I know exactly what it is. I just talk to my mom, talk to my wife, let them know what I have, and now I've got to take the rest."
There have been numerous COVID-19 patients who have been diagnosed with myocarditis as a result of coming down the virus. The disease is one that can affect your heart muscle and your heart's electrical system, reducing your heart's ability to pump and causing rapid or abnormal heart rhythms.
While Rodriguez is slated to reevaluated again sometime during the middle of this week, predicting a timetable for his return remains difficult.
For now, he rests and waits.;
"When I feel the symptoms, back when I got Covid, I felt it all," Rodriguez explained. "I felt all the symptoms and everything. right now, I don’t feel all the symptoms. I got surprised when I got that from my heart because I don’t feel any symptoms from that, I didn’t feel anything from my chest, nothing like that."
He added, "It’s been weird, man, it’s been hard, weird. First, I got the Covid, feel all the symptoms and everything, at some point thinking that’s how bad it was the first four days. And then get here, and now that I have this, I was hoping that I get ready and go for the season as quick as I can. Now I’ve got to get a week off, wait for the results of the next MRI. I would say it’s been weird, really weird for me."
As for any thought Rodriguez might have had regarding opting out of this season, he said it wasn't a consideration.
Eduardo Rodriguez talks about his heart ailment ... pic.twitter.com/RcAHZO9TYy
— Rob Bradford (@bradfo) July 26, 2020
