Former Detroit Tigers player Leonys Martin is battling a life-threatening bacterial infection.
Martin was traded to the Cleveland Indians on July 31, just ahead of the MLB trade deadline.
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Chris Antonetti, president of baseball operations for Cleveland, told reporters on Monday that Martin is being treated, is slowly improving and in stable condition.
Martin became ill last week after a game against Minnesota. He was taken to the Cleveland Clinic and was listed in critical condition until showing signs of improvement in the last 36 hours.
"Leonys had a bacterial infection that entered his blood stream and when it entered his blood stream it produced toxins," said Antonetti to Cleveland.com. "Those toxins did damage to his internal organs and the functioning of those organs was compromised, and it was severe.
"Thankfully, he's made a lot of progress in the last 24 to 36 hours and he's regained a lot of the organ function. And so, we're optimistic and he's on a good path right now and we're hopeful that he'll have a full recovery."
"It was life-threatening."
"We don't know exactly how the bacteria entered his system," said Antonetti. "It's not a communicable thing. It can't be transferred from one person to the next, but the bacteria somehow entered his blood stream. We don't yet know how."
Martin, 30, played in 78 games this season with the Tigers, hitting .251 (76x303) with 45 runs scored, 15 doubles, three triples, nine home runs and 29 RBI. He is currently tied for the American League lead with nine outfield assists, while he is tied for eighth with one grand slam.