Astros ‘06 first-round pick hospitalized with meningitis

Max Sapp, the Astros’ first-round draft pick in 2006, has been hospitalized for more than two weeks in Orlando, Fla., with a case of meningitis, assistant general manager Ricky Bennett said Tuesday.

Bennett said Sapp, 20, has been breathing with the help of a respirator after undergoing surgery to repair a severe sinus infection and contracting meningitis.

He’s been unable to breath on his own because of occasional seizures, Bennett said.

“We’ve been getting daily updates from his mother, Missy,” he said. “He’ll have his good days and his bad days. He’s not out of the woods yet. He’s still on a respirator and they’re filling him with antibiotics.”

...“We’re just worried about him getting out of the hospital and off the respirator,” Bennett said. “It’s going to take him time to gain his strength and get back to baseball activity. The doctors said because he was in such good condition it helped fight the infection and may have saved his life.”