Texas Rangers suspend pitcher Yohander Mendez

Yohander Mendez (Google Images)

The Texas Rangers have suspended left handed pitcher Yohander Mendez according to the Associated Press. The reason for Mendez’s suspension is because he sought medical care that was unauthorized by the Rangers organization.

Mendez, a native of Valencia, Venezuela, has played the last four seasons with Texas as a relief pitcher. In 2019, he played three games and had a record of one win and zero losses in four and two thirds innings. Mendez gave up four hits, three earned runs, two home runs and five walks. He also had eight strikeouts, an earned run average of 5.79 and a WHIP (walks and hits per innings pitched) of 1.93.

Mendez’s only win in 2019, his third of his career, came in a 9-4 Rangers win over the Baltimore Orioles on September 7. In that game Mendez was flawless as he had six strikeouts in two and a third innings.

Mendez’s other two regular season wins came in 2018. On September 2, 2018, Mendez got his first Major League Baseball victory in an 18-4 Rangers win over the Minnesota Twins and on September 14, 2018, Mendez helped the Rangers beat the San Diego Padres 4-0. In both games, Mendez was solid as he pitched six shutout innings against the Twins and five shutout innings against the Padres.

In 2019, Mendez missed most of the season because of an elbow injury. According to Reuters Media, he was experiencing shoulder pain during spring training and has not yet seen any action on the mound for the Rangers. According to Stefan Stevenson of the Fort Worth Star Telegram, Mendez will stay in Arizona (the state where the Rangers have spring training) during the suspension.