Yohander Mendez
Mendez comes into the 2017 ranked as the No. 2 prospect in the entire Texas Rangers organization. MLB.com also ranks him as the No. 54 prospect in ALL of baseball. He was at the Major League camp during Spring Training, and even played in a couple of games.
Up to this point in the season, Mendez is 1-2 with a 3.72 ERA. That’s over the course of six starts. In total, he has 36.1 innings under his belt. Which breaks down to just over six innings a start. Don’t take that lightly. Getting six innings out of a starter is essential. Mendez is proving he can handle going deep into ballgames for the RoughRiders. That’s a quality that is desperately needed by the Rangers, to help provide some bullpen relief.
Across his 36.1 innings, Mendez has 32 strikeouts and 16 walks. There needs to be more Ks here, but he’s working with a 1.10 WHIP. That’s a solid stat.
Mendez has looked well-rounded so far this season. His repertoire of pitches seems to have carried over from the 2016 season. In that year, he registered seven pitches. They included: four-seam fastball (91.9 MPH), two-seam fastball (93 MPH), Splitter (83.8 MPH), Sinker (91.0 MPH), Slider (84.1 MPH), Curveball (78.7 MPH), and changeup (84.9 MPH).
Expect this 22-year-old Venezuelan to continue a solid season. He could have the potential to make a spot-start late in the season. Mendez is already on the 40-man roster, so it wouldn’t be crazy if he did. One more thing. He’s a lefty. A well-built, reliable left-handed pitcher is practically gold. Especially for the Texas Rangers.