The Red Sox activated Jackie Bradley Jr. from the DL today. The corresponding move: putting utilityman Brock Holt on the disabled list. But it’s not due to a hamstring or anything like that. It’s due to vertigo.
Vertigo is a medical condition where a person feels as if they or the objects around them are moving when they’re not. A spinning, swaying or dizziness. It can be caused by an infection, a concussion or any number of other things and the severity can vary as well.
There have been a handful of players who have had to deal with vertigo in recent memory. J.D. Drew battled it off and on between 2008 and 2010 or so. The most famous case of it I can think of it in baseball is Nick Essasky, who was forced to retire due to developing vertigo stemming from an ear infection just nine games after signing as a free agent with the Atlanta Braves in 1990. Given that he was coming off his best season as a major leaguer, it was rather shocking how quickly and severely the malady affected him.
Here’s hoping that Holt has a speedy recovery.
