Yewri Guillen, an 18-year-old shortstop who played at the Washington Nationals' baseball academy in the Dominican Republic, died of bacterial meningitis Thursday, the team said in a statement Friday.
Academy administrator Fausto Severino said Guillen was feeling sick last week and the academy sent him home before the complex closed as it does every April. Guillen was hospitalized while away from the facility during the weekend.
The Nationals are investigating the death. Severino said none of the the other players there have reported health issues.
"All those steps were taken care of and really there's nothing else to do at this moment," Nationals head team doctor Wiemi Douoguih told The Washington Post. "The medical staff down south, our trainers, our doctors jumped on it and have really exhausted every possible measure to make sure nothing spreads and that this doesn't have any further implications."
The Nationals had signed Guillen in February and planned to assign him to an American minor league affiliate this summer.
"He was a young kid with a lot of future and had a lot of talent," Severino told the newspaper. "It's a young life other than being a baseball player. He was a happy kid all the time. He was a great kid. He was upbeat. He was a kid from a humble family but with great spirits. He was a kid everybody liked."
Nationals players collected money to send to Guillen's family in the Dominican Republic, where a wake was held Friday night. A funeral is set for Saturday.
Information from The Associated Press was used in this report.