Former White Sox right-hander Danny Farquhar will have the chance to return to the mound after agreeing to a minor-league contract with the Yankees on Monday, according to MLB.com.
The Yankees haven’t announced. Farquhar has been cleared for baseball activities and was going through his normal offseason throwing program at his California home with the expectation of pitching in the majors again.
On April 20, Farquhar was pitching for the Sox against the Astros at U.S. Cellular Field when he collapsed in the dugout. Sox medical personnel and emergency responders treated Farquhar, who had suffered a brain hemorrhage caused by a ruptured aneurysm.
He spent more than two weeks at Rush University Medical Center, then returned to the ballpark three times after his May 7 discharge. He threw out a ceremonial first pitch June 1.
Farquhar was cleared to resume baseball activities in June. He told MLB.com in November that giving his skull additional time to heal was the only thing that held him back from returning late in the 2018 season.
“I felt like I could have faced big league batters and been just fine,” Farquhar said. “I actually had some pretty positive doctors that believed in me. … They saw my drive the whole way. They thought for sure I’d be back on the field, and now I just have to wait for 2019 for that to happen.”
Farquhar, who turns 32 on Feb. 17, has a 3.93 ERA in 253 appearances across seven big-league seasons with the Blue Jays, Mariners, Rays and White Sox from 2011 to ’18. In 272 1/3 innings, he has allowed 237 hits with 106 walks and 309 strikeouts.
This will mark Farquhar’s second tour in the Yankees’ organization. He was selected off waivers from the Athletics in June 2012, spending less than a month in the system before being packaged to the Mariners with pitcher D.J. Mitchell in exchange for outfielder Ichiro Suzuki.
