CHICAGO — Texas reliever Luke Farrell, out since being hit in the face by a line drive in spring training, was activated from the 60-day injured list by the Rangers before their game Friday against the White Sox.
The 28-year-old right-hander has spent the entire season rehabbing since suffering a non-displaced jaw fracture and concussion when he was struck by a comebacker off the bat of San Francisco’s Jalen Miller in a March 2 game in Scottsdale, Arizona.
“It’s been a long road to get back here and bounce back from the injury and everything,” Farrell said. “I feel great and happy to join the team.”
Farrell, the son of former Red Sox manager John Farrell, said he was unable to return to baseball activities for weeks after the gruesome incident.
“It was, honestly, a migraine for two months,” he said. “Really unable to handle light, noise, direct conversation, just really taxing. I can think of times I was trying maybe to tip at a restaurant or something and the brain just doesn’t work, doesn’t fire.”
Farrell spent most of the season recovering at the Rangers’ training facility in Surprise, Arizona. He began a rehab assignment on July 23 with Texas’ Rookie Arizona League team. He was assigned on Aug. 6 to Double-A Frisco, where he was 0-0 with a 1.04 ERA in five games.
Farrell is 3-4 with a 5.28 ERA in 30 games with three major league teams. He last pitched in the majors for the Chicago Cubs on July 23, 2018, when he allowed six runs in 3⅓ innings against Arizona.
The Rangers acquired Farrell on waivers from the Los Angeles Angels in January.
In a corresponding move, Texas optioned left-hander Locke St. John to Triple-A Nashville. The Rangers also designated righty Shane Carle for assignment.