António Ríos Age 18 - 5th Round Draft Pick from Colombia
A few days prior, after pitching his first ever professional start and throwing 5 innings of shutout ball, Antonio Rios visited the trainer complaining of pain and tingling in his extremities that didn't feel like the typical soreness one expects after an outing. The trainer became alarmed with the odd inflamation he witnessed in Rios's arms and legs, especially along prominent veins He immediately sent Antonio to a pulmonary specialist who came back with a diagnosis that no one in the Front Office had even heard... Phones were whipped out and WebMD was summoned to investigate what the heck is....
Buerger's Disease
https://www.webmd.com/a-to-z-guides/wha ... -disease#1
Antonio was suffering from a plethora of lodged blood clots in his veins and arteries that were cutting off blood flow to his legs, arms, hands and feet. The pain he was feeling was his muscles suffering from lack of blood. It's unknown what causes the blood clots and if left untreated, Gangrene can result from the lack of blood to the extremities. The causes of Buerger's Disease are unknown, but there seems to be correlation to tobacco use.
It's unknown if Rios uses tobacco, either chew or smoking, but be assured any idea of taking up the plant is likely squashed after the diagnosis... if only as a precautionary measure. Since there's no known treatment for the disease, it appears that avoiding tobacco is best treatment moving forward.
For the time being, Doctor's have determined that Antonio Rios should avoid the mound for the rest of the season to give the blood clots a chance to disappear and give his body a chance to recover.
