José Mendoza (minors05)

José Luis Mendoza Morffe

• Bats Right, Throws Right
• Height 6' 2", Weight 165 lb.

• Born July 29, 1994 in Guatire, Miranda Venezuela

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Biographical Information

José Mendoza was born in Venezuela and has pitched in the Dominican Republic, USA, Croatia and Germany and for the Argentinian national team.

Mendoza was signed by Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim scout Carlos Ramirez in late 2011. He was 1-1 with a 2.45 ERA and .205 opponent average for the 2012 DSL Angels and 5-4, 2.54 for the same team in '13, with only 11 walks in 78 2/3 IP. Coming to the US, he was 3-6 with a 5.89 ERA for the AZL Angels, showing good control (11 BB in 55 IP) but allowing a .340 average. He tied Freddy Peralta and two others for the most losses in the Arizona League and surrendered the most hits (81, 6 more than Carlos Navas).

In 2015, he was 0-2 with a 6.86 ERA and 2.10 WHIP for the AZL Angels to end his minor league career with a 9-13, 4.08 record in 43 games (29 starts). He surfaced with Olimpija Karlovac in 2021. In the 2021 Federations Cup, he went 2-0 with a 1.50 ERA and 22 K in 12 IP for the champs, beating Yves Poesmans and the Brasschaat Braves and the Vienna Wanderers. He tied teammate Antonio Horvatić for the most wins and led in whiffs by three. The MVP was teammate Jose Herrera, a fellow Venezuelan native. In the Croatian season, he was named the best pitcher of the finals as Karlovac won there as well.

He then signed with Germany's Stuttgart Reds for 2022. He was 4-6 with a 4.36 ERA for them. He tied for 4th in the southern Bundesliga-1 in starts (12), tied Jared Mortensen for third in complete games (3), was 4th in IP (76 1/3, between Mortensen and Christian Pedrol), was second in walks (48, 7 behind Ferlon Gijsbertha), ranked third with 88 K (behind Kaleb Bowman and Mortensen), tied for 8th in wins, tied for 4th in losses.

Mendoza then pitched for Argentina in the 2022 World Baseball Classic Qualifiers. His first game, he saved Federico Robles' win over New Zealand. Replacing Robles in the 8th with a 4-1 lead, he allowed a single to fellow Bundesliga player Daniel Lamb-Hunt, who was thrown out trying to stretch it to two. He struck out Max Brown, then Jason Matthews reached on an error before Mendoza got Nikau Pouaka-Grego to fly out. In the 9th, he went 1-2-3 against Chayton Krauss, Sam Kennelly (K) and Andrew Marck. His other outing, he replaced Eric Ma in the 4th with a 2-2 tie against Nicaragua. He allowed a single and a walk in a scoreless inning then went 1-2-3 in the 5th against Steven Leytón, Isaac Benard and MLB vet Cheslor Cuthbert. He carried a 4-2 lead into the 6th before Elmer Reyes singled and advanced on a Dwight Britton grounder, then scored on a Melvin Novoa double. Milkar Pérez singled to tie it and Franco Pérez replaced Mendoza. The inherited runner would score but Mendoza did not take the loss as Argentina would tie it again only to fall in the end to be eliminated. He tied Ma, Franco Pérez and Kevin Riello for the team lead in appearances.