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Mariners left-hander Anthony Vasquez undergoes emergency brain surgery

Anthony Vasquez Getty

Scary news here. According to Greg Johns of MLB.com, Mariners left-hander Anthony Vasquez required emergency surgery last Friday after doctors discovered a ruptured blood vessel in his brain.

Vasquez began experiencing headaches initially, but didn’t think anything was wrong until he had dizziness and vision problems during a throwing session last Wednesday at the Mariners’ complex in Arizona. Tests showed a lesion in his brain and doctors found a left-threatening ruptured arteriovenous malformation (AVM) during the 5 1/2 hour procedure. The good news is that he came out of the surgery fine and was discharged from the hospital today.

“He’s a miracle,” said his father, Rudy, who is a scout in the Angels’ organization. “We have a strong faith in Jesus and Anthony’s faith has always been strong as well. There’s no other way to say it. When the neurosurgeon came out he said, ‘Your son should be dead, but he’s not.’”

Doctors told Vasquez that he’ll need to avoid heavy lifting for about 6-8 weeks, but he’s expected to be back to normal after that. Baseball obviously takes a back seat for now, but there’s a chance he pitch by the spring if all goes well.

Vasquez, 26, had an 8.90 ERA in seven starts with the Mariners in 2011. He was limited to just 11 starts this season with Triple-A Tacoma due to a shoulder injury.