MILWAUKEE -- Brewers pitcher Jimmy Nelson took to social media on Monday to share a personal family matter, and along the way offered fans a good reminder that there is more to baseball than balls and strikes.
"I rarely post things this long," Nelson began his Instagram post on Monday afternoon, after traveling home to Texas following Sunday's "On Deck" fan fest, "but platforms are meant to be used."
Nelson made some news Sunday when he said he's aiming to start Opening Day for the Brewers, despite missing all of last season while recovering from shoulder surgery. But it turns out he had off-the-field matters on his mind, too. Within the past week, Nelson said, he and his pregnant wife, Melissa, learned that their unborn twins have twin to twin transfusion syndrome, a condition that causes decreased blood and nutrient flow to one of the twins. The Nelsons were told that it carries at 95 percent mortality rate if left untreated.
"Fortunately," he wrote, "there is a laser procedure that can be done to try and reverse the progression of the transfusion. However, even with the procedure there still is a rather significant chance of losing one or both; and complications that can happen post-operation."

Which brought Nelson to the reason he made his family's personal matter a public one.
"First off, I couldn't be any more proud of my wife … for being the strongest person I've met," he wrote. "Over the last 16 months, she has been my rock through the hardest period of time in my life; and although I continue to fight now, it's my turn to be the rock. The things that we have gone through and continue to go through will only strengthen us.
"Which brings me to my next point. Every single person has their battles, no matter how big or small or internal or external, we all have them. Who we are and our legacy is not what we go through but how we go through it, grow from it, and learn from it. Very rarely do we see beneath the surface of people and know the full story; and for that reason I want to encourage everyone to be slow to judge, criticize, and hate but be quick to listen, help, and love.
"Even in times like this we know how fortunate and blessed we are. We also want to say ahead of time that we appreciate all your thoughts and prayers."
On Monday night, Nelson revealed that Melissa had undergone the procedure, which went well, and was under close observation.
With that, baseball fans everywhere have something to root for.