Texas Rangers: Yohander Mendez booted to Single A one week after his MLB starting debut

In the span of a week, Texas Rangers #7 prospect, Yohander Mendez, has gone from making his MLB starting pitching debut to being demoted all the way to Single A.

Yohander Mendez, the Texas Rangers’ #7 prospect, was promoted to make his first ever big league start two Friday’s ago against the Colorado Rockies. It was an exciting moment for Rangers fans, a bunch that had been waiting to see some young talent off the farm. Certainly, it was an incredibly exciting moment for Mendez as well. However, the opportunity was the peak of the moment. Once Mendez took the mound that Friday night, he began on a vast downward spiral.

The 23-year-old got five runs of support from the Texas Rangers offense in the first inning against the Rockies. A sudden clear path appeared to his first major league victory. Unfortunately, that was not the result. Mendez was pulled after allowing six runs over three innings, walking two hitters and striking out only one. The five-run lead after the 1st inning had dispersed by the time he left the mound.

It was a rough start, but that happens, especially in a starting debut against a very good Rockies’ offense. Not a big deal. In fact, Texas had him slotted to start again the following Wednesday against the Kansas City Royals. Yohander Mendez did not get to make that start.

Apparently, Mendez was involved in some sort of altercation after Monday night’s game in Kansas City. Details remain relatively vague; however, Rangers’ insider Evan Grant detailed all that he could in a Dallas SportsDay article.

The Texas Rangers did their best to keep the details behind closed doors (literally). Though, as has now been reported, the occurrence was significant enough to demote Yohander Mendez to Single A:

So, a week after making his major league debut as a starting pitcher, Yohander Mendez will be back to riding buses to games in Single A. “Rangers say not a punishment”, but it certainly seems like it.

The organization has made it very clear that they do not tolerate lapses in behavior. This is the rule of thumb even for top prospects. They already benched top prospect Willie Calhoun earlier this season for lack of hustle. The situation with Mendez was much more drastic, as indicated by a multi-level demotion.

Hopefully the message will get across to Yohander Mendez. Major League Baseball is no place for troublesome teammates. The Texas Rangers are known to be a tightly knit group. Thus, a young player with attitude problems will quickly be shown the door.

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The team needs Mendez to reach his potential at some point, but they can wait. The bottom line is Mendez ruined a great opportunity to experience valuable, extended major league time. That’s on him and him only.