Yohander Mendez

Mendez’s changeup was by far his best pitch this year. It was his go to pitch against left handed batters with two strikes or in counts where he was ahead which, combined with its whopping 50% whiff%, created 3 strikeouts in 5 at bats.

With 4 strikeouts and 2 homeruns in 8 at bats, Mendez’s fastball was a do or die pitch. While the sample size is very small, he doesn’t want to continue playing with fire on the long run.

The sample size of this pitch is very small for the season, but he threw it 50% of the time on even counts against left handed hitters so if put in favorable matchups against lefties, this could be the pitch to set him up for a good count to eventually use his changeup or fastball that both generate a lot of whiffs.

The four-seamer didn’t have great movement, though it did top out at 95 mph, no small feat for a lefty. A .205 BABIP against it held opponents to a .220 average, though it did surrender a bloated .480 SLG.

Mendez’s changeup was a legit Money Pitch in 2018. It posted an elite 22.9% whiff rate, 45.2% chase rate, and 43.1% zone rate. On top of that, it generated grounders at a 47.4% clip. Opponents mustered just a .230 wOBA against it. Though it was only thrown just over 100 times, it was a special offering.

Mendez’s sinker had some good drop to it, helping it generate an impressive 62.5% ground-ball rate. His main struggle with this pitch was locating it, as it had just a 23% zone rate.

The slider was Mendez’s worst offering, generating a laughable 3.2% whiff rate and coaxing swings outside the zone just 19.5% of the time. It had below-average drop to it, and hitters teed off to the tune of a brutal .923 SLG and .538 average.

As is the case with his slider, Mendez does not generate much drop with his curve. The result is a lack of whiffs or chases outside the zone. That said, Mendez only threw the pitch a handful of times in 2018.