Cubs' Heyward returns to lineup after health scare
When Jason Heyward began experiencing breathing issues during Sunday's game at Wrigley Field, his thoughts didn't immediately jump to COVID-19, simply because he knew he'd been taking every precaution.
But struggling to breathe is always cause for concern when it happens suddenly and there's no explanation.
"The panic part for me, once I came out of the game, I started realizing the breathing is not really feeling too great and I started getting tired," Heyward said Wednesday. "So I think it probably stressed me out a little bit more than normal.
"I'm like, 'It's not getting better. I need to say something because I need to get away from everyone.'"
Heyward left the game, visited the hospital and went through a number of tests over the next two days, including three COVID tests.
He said doctors are still not sure what happened, probably some sort of viral infection. But Heyward was feeling good and back in the starting lineup in right field for Wednesday's game against Cincinnati.
"I feel a lot better mentally, physically, knowing that I was in good hands," he said. "Did every test imaginable to make sure that I'm healthy and I won't be harming anyone around me as well.
"When it comes down to cardio stuff, allergy stuff, nothing came up. The last test I did was stress test, echo, which is you're on the treadmill walking fast, running fast, hooked up to the EKG and the heart monitor and all that stuff came back clear, which for me is a great piece of mind. "
Heyward said he first noticed the issues during his first at-bat of the night when he tried to take a deep breath between pitches and couldn't do it. He went back out in the field and it was after his second at-bat that he decided to pull himself from the game.
Heading into Wednesday's action, Heyward was batting .300, which ranked second on the team.