Royals add Hunter Dozier back to the lineup after rough experience with COVID-19
Before their last exhibition game, the Royals learned that infielder/outfielder Hunter Dozier had contracted the COVID-19 coronavirus. The news took a little wind out of their sails and a potent bat out of the middle of their lineup.
Before Sunday’s series finale against the Minnesota Twins at Kauffman Stadium, the Royals activated Dozier from the injured list and placed outfielder Franchy Cordero on the IL with a right wrist sprain.
A 6-foot-4, 220-pound Texas native, Dozier went right back into the Royals’ starting lineup as their cleanup hitter and first baseman. He was 1 for 4 and drove in a pair of runs.
For the past week he’d been training and working at the team’s alternate training site, T-Bones Stadium in Kansas City, Kansas.
“Since I had all the symptoms, I wasn’t allowed to do anything until I started feeling better,” Dozier said before the game. “I didn’t do any physical activity for a little over a week. Then when I started feeling better, I was able to start doing some body weight workouts, but those were still tough.
“I had shortness of breath, so it was tough for me to get through a workout. It got a little better every day. I was able to push myself a little bit more.”
Dozier, 28, wasn’t at full strength until a couple days ago. Even after he first started working out with the players at T-Bones Stadium, he still felt short of breath, he said. Only in the last three or four days did he begin feeling like himself again.
“I’m feeling good,” Dozier said of jumping right back into the lineup. “I’m ready to get back. I know it’s definitely different up here, but the swing feels good. Timing felt really good (Saturday). (Saturday) was probably my best day timing-wise. I know it’s going to be a process. I’m glad to be back. I’m glad to be feeling healthy. I’m ready to get going.”
Dozier’s parents battled COVID-19 while baseball was suspended this winter/spring. When Dozier found out he had tested positive, he also learned his wife, Amanda, was infected.
The couple’s first thoughts were of their two children, son Bodhi and daughter Blake. Dozier said the team’s training staff and doctors assured him and his wife that their children would be fine, but at first he and his wife wore masks when holding them or even playing with them on the floor.
“It was definitely a physical grind. We were feeling like crap for a little over a week, and we have two little ones at home too, so we were trying to take care of them and also trying to get rest,” Dozier said. “We felt pretty bad. It was rough.”
Now that he’s regained his health, Royals manager Mike Matheny is glad to have him back on the field.
“We have the opportunity with an injury that opens up that spot,” Matheny said. “We were kind of teetering on whether today would be the day. We talked to him and he had a good day yesterday. It was very clear that, ‘Let’s get Hunter Dozier right back in this mix.’”
Dozier had a breakout season in 2019. He was one of three finalists to start at third base for the American League in the All-Star Game. He set career highs in batting average (.279), on-base percentage (.348) and slugging percentage (.522), as well as runs (75), doubles (29), triples (10), home runs (26) and RBIs (84).
He played in 139 games but spent time on the injured list with thorax tightness in his right side, missing 19 games from May 31 to June 20. At the time he went on the disabled list, he ranked third in the AL in slugging percentage (.589), fifth in OPS (.987), seventh in on-base percentage (.398) and sixth in batting average (.314).
Through his first 52 games last season, Dozier’s offensive production surpassed even that of designated hitter/outfielder Jorge Soler, who went on to have one of the most productive seasons by a power hitter in franchise history. Soler, who played in all 162 games, set the club’s single-season record for home runs in 2019 with 48.
Yet through Dozier’s first 52 games, he registered the same number of RBIs (33) and just one fewer home run (11) than Solder. He also hit for a higher average (.314 to .249), on-base percentage (.398 to .302) and slugging percentage (.589 to .497) than Soler did through his first 52 games.
Matheny described Dozier as a “special player” and added that his versatility will allow the team to give Maikel Franco occasional off-days at third base while also getting Dozier some playing time in the outfield and at first base. His bat also makes their lineup deeper.
“Now we’ve got most of our pieces here,” Matheny said. “That’s exciting for us because we believe in this group, but we need all of our guys and we need everybody clicking.”
This story was originally published August 9, 2020 at 1:55 PM with the headline "Royals add Hunter Dozier back to the lineup after rough experience with COVID-19."
