Texas Rangers pitcher is back, one year after being hit in the face with a line drive
The big Texas Rangers news Sunday, and rightfully so, was the Cactus League debut of Corey Kluber, the major offseason get and a candidate to be the Opening Day starter based solely on him being Corey Kluber.
Manager Chris Woodward was so excited he sent texts to his friends with the Los Angeles Dodgers, his old team, letting them know Kluber was going to “carve them up.”
He was joking, of course. It’s spring training, and Kluber, who hadn’t pitch in any kind of game since August, needed to get in his work as he tries to recapture the form that enabled him to win two American League Cy Young Awards.
Kluber said he has more work to do before the opening week of the season late this month after he allowed two runs and two hits in three innings and struck out four. Still, he left Camelback Ranch pleased with the outing.
“It was encouraging to get out there,” Kluber said.
The right-hander who tossed a scoreless inning after him was big Rangers news 365 days ago.
No celebration has been planned, no flowers sent, no cakes baked for the one-year anniversary that arrives Monday — the day a line drive broke Luke Farrell’s jaw.
“Not this one,” Farrell said. “Not this one.”
Farrell wouldn’t wish what he went through the past year on anyone, nor does he want to repeat the arduous journey. However, he believes all that happened has made him a better baseball player.
“It’s a cliche thing, but some cliches are cliches for a reason,” Farrell said. “You stop taking certain things for granted, you appreciate your teammates more, you appreciate the opportunity more. I don’t lay so much stress on this outing or that outing as I did in the past. Last year definitely helped with that.”
A lot happened.
Farrell was pitching the ninth inning March 2, 2019, at Scottsdale Stadium when he couldn’t get his glove up before a line drive hit the left side of his face. The injury required surgery and left him with a jaw wired shut and a concussion that proved to be worse than the fracture.
Farrell needed more time recovering from the brain trauma than regaining the weight and strength lost while on a liquid diet. He traveled to Pittsburgh to visit concussion specialist Dr. Micky Collins after his symptoms hadn’t cleared two months after the injury.
Finally, Farrell was able to start pitching again and debuted on the Rangers’ roster Aug. 23 with two scoreless innings against the Chicago White Sox. But he was still dealing with effects of the concussion, even having to leave the field in September at Baltimore.
“When I came back, I was still dealing with a lot of stuff,” said Farrell, whose father is former Boston Red Sox manager John Farrell.
“When your body gets put in a fight-or-flight and you have a concussion, you can’t control how your body handles it. It was like the walls were closing in on me.”
He is no longer experiencing symptoms, and he put on 17 pounds over the offseason. That weight and strength are making a difference for him on the mound.
Woodward considers Farrell a candidate for the Opening Day roster. He can pitch multiple innings, Woodward said, and Farrell has learned how to better use his stuff.
“We knew last year when we got Luke the stuff played — fastball up in the zone, both breaking balls had really good characteristics,” Woodward said. “He really bought into how to use his stuff better, and you can see it’s now come to a belief inside of him that, ‘This is the way I need to pitch.’ ”
Farrell was on that path last spring, found it again in September and is taking it with him in his bid for the roster. Without the injury, Farrell likely would have been pitching in the majors in April.
But he hasn’t felt sorry for himself. He’s used the experience to become a better baseball player.
“I try to be a person who learns from things and doesn’t try to dwell on too much,” said Farrell, who twice had large tumors removed from his throat in high school and college. “I really try to avoid the ‘poor me’ and going down in that pit.
“I would never want to go through anything like it again, but in the end it’s been positive for me as far as maturing and growing up.”
This story was originally published March 1, 2020 at 6:09 PM.
