Yohander Mendez leaves game with elbow injury

Texas Rangers pitcher Yohander Mendez left today’s game in the third inning with what is being reported as an elbow injury.

Mendez, a left hander, came into camp with almost no shot of making the Opening Day roster, but was viewed as a potential depth option for the rotation, particularly early in the year. He had had a disappointing camp, however, prior to this injury.

I had been thinking early today that I couldn’t remember the last time the Rangers had had such an injury-free camp, particularly among their pitchers, but an elbow issue like this seems ominous. Mendez joins Luke Farrell, who is recovering from a broken jaw, as a potential 60 day disabled list candidate if the Rangers need to open up a spot on their currently-full 40 man roster to add someone, such as Hunter Pence or Matt Davidson.

If Mendez misses significant time, that leaves Adrian Sampson and Ariel Jurado as the primary options to step into the major league rotation in the first part of the year should the Rangers need a fill-in. In the second half, the hope would be that one or more from the group of Joe Palumbo, Taylor Hearn, Brock Burke and Jonathan Hernandez will be ready.