Rangers demote pitcher, reportedly as discipline for late night out
The Texas Rangers demoted a pitcher to the minor leagues in a disciplinary measure, and a report says it was related to a late night out.
Texas announced on Tuesday that pitcher Yohander Mendez was sent down to Triple-A Round Rock and will not make his scheduled start on Wednesday. Mendez, 23, got hammered in his start on Friday and was looking to rebound on Wednesday.
But according to the Fort Worth Star-Telegram’s Stefan Stevenson, Mendez was out late on Monday night, prompting the discipline. From Stevenson’s report:
Mendez and teammate Rougned Odor were out late with some Royals players at a Kansas City establishment after Monday’s game, according to several sources. Apparently, the night on the town got out of hand for Mendez, which prompted the move.
The team said the demotion was for a violation of team rules. GM Jon Daniels also mentioned that this is part of a maturity lesson the team is trying to teach. Odor was benched for Tuesday’s game, though the team did not specify if it was related to the night out with Mendez.
Mendez is 0-1 with a 14.73 ERA in the majors over 3.2 innings. He wasn’t doing much better in the minors, as he was 0-6 with a 5.26 ERA.
