Yohander Mendez’s injury has been diagnosed as a grade 1 UCL strain in his left elbow, per the beat guys on Twitter. The Texas Rangers lefty pitcher will be shut down until May 1, but does not need surgery, but will be shut down until May 1, and is expected to be unavailable until the second half of the season.
The good news is that Mendez will avoid going under the knife, at least for now, and should pitch again this season. The bad news for Mendez is that he’s going to be coming back at around the time guys like Joe Palumbo and Brock Burke are expected to be vying for major league innings, and he risks being surpassed by the new crop of starting pitchers coming up.