Seattle Mariners pitcher Anthony Vasquez undergoes emergency brain surgery

Mariners pitcher Anthony Vasquez had a life-threatening health scare this past weekend, as he underwent emergency brain surgery.

Greg Johns of MLB.com reports that Vasquez felt headaches and dizziness starting a few weeks ago while training at the Mariners complex in Peoria, Ariz. When he went into the doctor's office, they found a ruptured blood vessel in his brain, and immediately scheduled him for surgery on Friday.

The surgery lasted five and a half hours as the doctors tried to clear out the life-threatening mess of blood vessels in Vasquez's brain.

Rudy Vasquez, a scout with the Los Angeles Angels, told Johns that his 26-year-old son is a miracle, saying, "When the neurosurgeon came out he said, 'Your son should be dead, but he's not.'"

"It was frightening, but it's an amazing story. They said he dodged a silver bullet. It's unbelievable. We know it happens every day to somebody in this world. This time it was us and we're just thankful he's OK."

Much to the happiness of all parties involved, Vasquez was discharged from the hospital on Monday and his father was driving him back to their home in San Antonio, Texas.

"What's happened there is pretty remarkable," general manager Jack Zduriencik said. "You think life is great and all of a sudden this kid is going in for brain surgery. But he's a terrific kid with tremendous faith and a strong family."

The Mariners drafted Vasquez in the 18th round of the 2009 draft. He had one pretty rough stint with the Mariners in 2011 when he went 1-6 with a 8.90 ERA over seven starts. He was thrust into the line-up after the Mariners traded both Doug Fister and Erik Bedard and needed some emergency help in the rotation.

Vasquez will be off his feet for a bit and isn't allowed to do any heavy lifting for six to eight weeks. Assuming there are no complications with recovery, Vasquez should be ready to return to a pitching regime next spring.