How would the loss of Yohander Mendez affect the Texas Rangers roster?

Starting pitcher Yohander Mendez left Sunday’s game with an apparent elbow injury. The Texas Rangers may have to prepare a game plan that excludes Mendez.

There’s no such thing as an injury free spring. The Texas Rangers were getting by pretty well up until yesterday. They got word that outfielder and middle of the order bat, Joey Gallo, may miss opening day with a groin strain. Then, left-hander Yohander Mendez left yesterday’s start with an apparent elbow issue.

Gallo is expected to miss little time, perhaps no regular season games. Mendez on the other hand could miss significant time.

How would a Mendez loss affect the roster?

First off, he wasn’t expected to make the 25-man. The Rangers intend to send the 24-year-old to Triple-A for further development. He wouldn’t be on the opening day 25-man roster, but he would be on the 40-man roster as part of the regular season player pool.

If his injury is serious enough to land him on the 60-day injured list, he would not hold any roster spot. Thus, someone would replace him.

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The obvious candidate would be Hunter Pence. Pence is hitting .385 over 14 spring games with three home runs and a 1.198 OPS. There’s a good chance he bypasses the 40-man and makes the 25-man roster even without a lost Yohander Mendez. However, at this moment, Pence is not on the Texas Rangers 40-man roster.

They could give the spot to a middle infielder. Elvis Andrus, Rougned Odor, Asdrubal Cabrera, Ronald Guzman and Patrick Wisdom are the only infielders currently on the roster. Wisdom is the only non-starter and he’s confined to the corner infield positions.

Having someone who could play shortstop and second base in a backup role would be a definite benefit. Infielder Logan Forsythe has had a nice spring, currently hitting .300 with a .914 OPS. He’s played 857 games in his eight-year MLB career. The Rangers could consider Andy Ibanez and Nolan Fontana as additional infielders as well.

Losing Mendez would certainly hurt the team’s pitching depth, something that is very important given the injury prone starters they plan on heavily using the next six months. Mendez isn’t going to make the rotation, but he’s one of the next men up. He may be the top name on speed dial if a starter is to get hurt.

Though, if he’s hurt for the long-term, the Rangers will have to make other plans for their pitching depth.

A stunt in development would be the worst result of a potential Yohander Mendez loss. He was the organization’s top pitching prospect not too long ago, but he hasn’t been able to figure out the major league level. A long layoff due to injury is the last thing he needs. His career would be halted, and the Texas Rangers would have a present concern and a future concern.

Let’s hope none of these possibilities come to fruition. Let’s hope the Mendez injury is minor at most. Surely we’ll hear the exact diagnosis in the coming days.