On January 21, 2019, the New York Yankees signed journeyman reliever Danny Farquhar to a minor league deal with an invitation to Spring Training. Â Farquhar is not just another depth pick up for the Yankees, he’s the survivor of a serious illness that knocked him out of the sport for nearly a year.
On April 20, 2018, Â Farquhar went to the dugout after pitching and collapsed. Â It was later learned that he had suffered a ruptured aneurysm which caused his brain to hemorrhage. Â He was lucky to be alive and determined to return to Major League Baseball.
The only reminder of an aneurysm, a scar on the left side of his face and numbness throughout his entire head that doctors say may never resolve.
The Big Leagues are calling:
Back to baseball for Farquhar, but this time it’s with the Yankees, who he had a brief, brief stint with back in 2012 when he was acquired from the Oakland Athletics off waivers and three days later traded to Seattle Mariners in the deal that brought Ichiro Suzuki to the Bronx.
In 2018, prior to his illness, Farquhar had pitched eight innings for the Chicago White Sox with a 5.63 ERA, 6 H, 5 R, 3 HR and a 0.750 WHIP. Â Farquhar has a 3.93 ERA in 253 appearances in his career, including time spent with the Blue Jays, Athletics, Yankees and White Sox.
Yankee fans are eager to see whether Farquhar can break into a bullpen that already features such names as Aroldis Chapman, Dellin Betances, Zach Britton, Adam Ottavino and Chad Green, along with Jonathan Holder, Luis Cessa and Jonathan Loaisiga.
The Yankee bullpen may, in fact, be built to have a historic season as top heavy as it is in hard-throwing superstars, but there is still plenty of competition for the remaining spots in the bullpen. Holder, Cessa and Loaisiga and a complement of pitchers from the minor leagues, such as Domingo German, David Hale and Chance Adams will all be competing with Farquhar for a spot on the roster.
Fans across baseball, not just Yankee fans, are hoping Farquhar succeeds this season, overcoming what were serious odds against him just over a year ago. Â Who knows, maybe Farquhar becomes Major League Baseball’s Comeback Player of the Year in 2019?