Meet the Jackfish: Deivy Mendez
When Deivy Mendez became available the Welland Jackfish didn’t hesitate for a second to bring in the 26-year-old right-hander.
Pitchers with professional experience who light up the radar gun don’t grow on trees so it was a no-brainer to add Mendez after Visa issues led to his departure from an independent team in Mexico.
“We knew he threw hard but we were just concerned about his command but his command has been awesome,” Jackfish manager Brian Essery said. “He throws 95-97 (miles-per-hour), has command, and he’s been up over 100. I went through the scouting reports and he has a plus fastball, 98-99. He’s legit.”
Mendez has been nothing short of phenomenal since signing with the Jackfish in July, permitting only one hit in 13 innings of work while fanning 23 and walking only four.
“When he throws 95-97 he’s been right there and that stuff plays anywhere. It plays in the big leagues so he’ll get another shot,” Essery said.
Mendez, a native of San Pedro de Macoris, Dominican Republic, signed with the Tampa Rays in 2016 as a 16-year-old. He has also played in the Detroit, San Diego and Oakland organizations.
He was happy to join the Jackfish as a stopgap measure in his career.
“It’s very hard but we know how baseball goes,” Mendez said. “Sometimes it’s up, sometimes it’s down. You have to be working hard no matter where you are because something can change.”
Mendez feels he still has a shot at the majors.
“Ya. I want to go there. I want to try and go back and play in the big leagues. That’s the job,” he said.
Mendez has a 9-24 record and 5.42 earned run average in 136 career minor league games.
He has worked on finding the sweet spot between velocity and control.
“The command is good but I was getting in trouble with my fastball because it was floating a lot, too much movement,” he said. “That was my first two years. After that I figured it out how to make better numbers. Before I was throwing harder. Right now it’s 96-97 which is pretty good.”
Mendez, who has the standard repertoire of a fastball, curve, slider and change-up, is having fun with the Jackfish.
“I still enjoy it. My teammates are so happy to be here and they’re just looking to win a championship which is good,” he smiled.
The Jackfish, who swept the Kitchener Panthers 3-0 in the first round of the playoffs, will face either Hamilton (Thursday) or Guelph (Saturday) in the next round of the playoffs. Previously purchased tickets can be redeemed for the semifinals.
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