Minnesota Twins pitcher Kody Funderburk took the mound on Tuesday, April 28, marking his first appearance since his pregnant wife’s cancer diagnosis was revealed.
Funderburk, 29, threw 1.1 innings in the Twins’ 7-1 loss to the Seattle Mariners, surrendering a run on one hit and a walk.
His outing came three days after the Twins released a series of posts via X explaining that Funderburk’s wife, Alicia, was diagnosed with Hodgkin lymphoma while pregnant with the couple’s daughter, Murphy Jo.
“Fundy is back from the Paternity List but we want to take a moment to share more of his and his wife’s story,” the team began, attaching a photo of Kody and Alicia at Target Field, the Twins’ home ballpark.
“While pregnant, Alicia, Kody’s wife, was diagnosed with Hodgkin lymphoma,” the thread continued alongside a pic of Alicia in the hospital. “After ongoing chemotherapy treatments, doctors are hopeful that she’ll make a full recovery.”
The thread came days after Alicia herself first opened up about her battle with a carousel of photos via Instagram on April 15.
“A little photo recap and life update from the last few months…From getting pregnant to being diagnosed with Hodgkin Lymphoma, life recently has had some surprises,” she wrote in the caption. “While this season of life hasn’t looked how we imagined, Kody and I are beyond grateful for all the love, prayers, and support around us. We have been constantly reminded of how blessed we are every step of the way.”
She concluded, “Baby Fundy is already so loved (and clearly already likes to keep things interesting). We can’t wait to meet them in a few days!❤️.”
Five days later, Murphy was born and the Twins placed Funderburk on the paternity list.
The reliever also reflected on his wife’s journey, citing the “many positives’ that gave him optimism during the ordeal.
“Usually you catch it early enough to be able to treat it. Once we found out it was Hodgkin’s, we kind of took a step back,” he told MLB.com in a story published April 18. “Breast cancer runs in her family and that was one of the cancers we were kind of afraid of, but once we found out it was Hodgkin’s, we caught it early enough, it was more just about, ‘OK, what do we need to do?’”
He continued, “Kind of like how baseball is, you kind of get to your process, ‘OK, what’s next?’ ‘OK, go execute that.’ ‘What’s next?’ ‘OK, let’s do that.’ And every step of the way, our doctors and team were super supportive and compassionate. Never once did we ever feel like this was going to get out of hand or anything like that.”
