Brewers infielder Mauricio Dubon checked into hospital for illness

Mauricio Dubon was so excited to get back into a baseball lineup, he couldn’t sleep the night before the Brewers’ Spring Training opener.

After recovering from an ACL injury that happened days before he could have been the first ever Major League player from Honduras (it was widely speculated that he was very close to replacing Orlando Arcia at shortstop), Dubon expected to get plenty of at-bats this spring, and that game was supposed to be the first of many with the big league club this month.

Instead, Dubon has reportedly not been feeling well the past couple of games he would have played, and was held out of the lineup. Evidently, he still isn’t feeling better -- according to Craig Counsell, Dubon was checked into the hospital to see what’s been ailing him.

We don’t know what symptoms Dubon has been feeling, but the “out for some time” line is concerning -- and disappointing for Dubon, whose opportunity to get frequent at-bats was likely going to be early in spring, before Travis Shaw, Mike Moustakas and other regulars saw their playing time increase. His chances of making the Major League roster out of Spring Training were drastically reduced with the Moustakas signing, but this spring was still going to be valuable in helping him shake off any rust after missing nearly a full year.

For now, though, here’s to hoping the illness isn’t anything too serious and that he’ll be back on his feet soon. Things out of his control have already robbed him of one opportunity. It would be a shame to see it happen for a second time in less than a year.