Yohander Manuel Méndez Ortega (born January 17, 1995) is a Venezuelan professional baseball pitcher for the Yomiuri Giants of the Nippon Professional Baseball (NPB). He made his Major League Baseball (MLB) debut in 2016 for the Texas Rangers.

Professional career

Texas Rangers

Méndez signed with the Texas Rangers as an international free agent in July 2011 out of Venezuela for $1.5MM. Mendez made his professional debut in 2012 with the DSL Rangers, posting a 2–1 record with a 1.99 ERA in 45.1 innings. In 2013 he made his stateside debut with the Spokane Indians, posting a 1–2 record with a 3.78 ERA in 33.1 innings. Mendez split the 2014 season between he AZL Rangers and Hickory Crawdads, posting a combined 3–1 record with a 2.70 ERA in 36.2 innings. Mendez spent the entire 2015 season with the Hickory Crawdads, posting a 3–3 with a 2.44 ERA in 66.1 innings. The Rangers added him to their

40-man roster A Major League Baseball roster is a list of players who are allowed, by league agreement, to play for a Major League Baseball (MLB) team. Each MLB team maintains two rosters: an active roster of players eligible to participate in an MLB game, and ...

after the 2015 season. Mendez split the 2016 minor league season between the High Desert Mavericks, Frisco RoughRiders, and the

Round Rock Express The Round Rock Express are a Minor League Baseball team of the Pacific Coast League (PCL) and the Triple-A affiliate of the Texas Rangers. They are located in Round Rock, Texas, and play their home games at the Dell Diamond. The team is named ...

. He posted a combined 12–3 record with a 2.19 ERA in 111 innings. After the trade deadline of the 2016 season, Mendez became the team's no. 2 prospect after the Rangers dealt Luis Ortiz and Lewis Brinson to the Brewers for catcher Jonathan Lucroy. Méndez was promoted to the Major Leagues during September call-ups on September 2, 2016 after having an ERA of 2.19 as a starter in the minors. He made his Major League debut on September 5 coming out of the bullpen allowing five earned runs while pitching one inning against the Seattle Mariners. He appeared in just two games that September, throwing 3 innings with a 18.00 ERA. Mendez split the 2017 season between the Frisco RoughRiders and the Rangers. In 24 games (24 starts) with Frisco he posted a 7–8 with a 3.79 ERA in 137.2 innings. In 7 relief outings for the Rangers, he posted a 0–1 record with a 5.11 ERA in 12.1 innings. Mendez opened the 2018 season with the Round Rock Express. He was on the Rangers active roster when on June 19, he was optioned back to AAA for violating an unspecified team rule after a game in Kansas City the night prior. Mendez was demoted down to the Down East Wood Ducks on June 25, for what the organization called a "reset" on his development. Mendez worked his way back up through AA and AAA, before being recalled to the major league roster on September 2. Mendez posted a combined 2–10 record with a 4.71 ERA in 122.1 innings between the Down East Wood Ducks, Frisco Roughriders, and the Round Rock Express. In 8 games (5 starts) with the Rangers in 2018, Mendez posted a 2–2 record with a 5.53 ERA in 27.2 innings. During the 2018 offseason the Rangers announced that they were given a 4th minor league option on Mendez that would allow them to option him to the minor leagues during the 2019 season. On March 19, 2019, the team announced that Mendez would not need season ending surgery, instead he would be available by midseason. Mendez was placed on the 60-day

injured list In Major League Baseball (MLB), the injured list (IL) is a method for teams to remove their injured players from the roster in order to summon healthy players. Before the 2019 season, it was known as the disabled list (DL). General guidelines ...

to open the 2019 season. He returned to Texas on September 5, and finished the season going 1–0 with a 5.79 ERA over innings. On July 23, 2020, Méndez was outrighted off of the 40-man roster. Mendez did not play in a game in 2020 due to the cancellation of the Minor League Baseball season because of the COVID-19 pandemic. He became a free agent on November 2, 2020.

Leones de Yucatán

On February 24, 2021, Méndez signed with the Leones de Yucatán of the Mexican League.

Sultanes de Monterrey

On December 6, 2021, Méndez signed with the Milwaukee Milkmen of the American Association of Professional Baseball. However, on February 15, 2022, prior to the 2022 AA season, his contract was purchased by the

Sultanes de Monterrey The Sultanes de Monterrey ( en, Monterrey Sultans) are a professional baseball team in the Mexican League based in Monterrey, Mexico. They compete in the Northern Division. The team also joined the Mexican Pacific League for the 2019–20 season f ...

of the Mexican League.

Yomiuri Giants

On December 13, 2022, Mendez signed with the Yomiuri Giants of Nippon Professional Baseball. https://news.yahoo.co.jp/articles/89ee2edac70aff8c1d45a9660214d9082c3e8985

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Mendez, Yohander 1995 births Living people Arizona League Rangers players Dominican Summer League Rangers players Frisco RoughRiders players Hickory Crawdads players High Desert Mavericks players Major League Baseball pitchers Major League Baseball players from Venezuela Mexican League baseball pitchers Nashville Sounds players Navegantes del Magallanes players Round Rock Express players Spokane Indians players Baseball players from Valencia, Venezuela Sultanes de Monterrey players Texas Rangers players Venezuelan expatriate baseball players in the Dominican Republic Venezuelan expatriate baseball players in Mexico Venezuelan expatriate baseball players in the United States