Julio Mendez

Julio Rafael Mendez

• Bats Right, Throws Right
• Height 5' 10", Weight 140 lb.

• Born October 24, 1996 in Ciudad Bolívar, Bolívar Venezuela

BR Minors page

Biographical Information

Infielder Julio Mendez was signed by the Milwaukee Brewers before the 2014 season, when he was just 17. He played in the Dominican Summer League in 2014 and 2015, hitting .234 in 58 games for the DSL Brewers the first year, and .260 in 43 games the second. Lat in the 2015 season, he was moved to the United States and played 12 games with the AZL Brewers, hitting .185. In 2016, he spent the entire season in the Arizona League, where he hit .231/.316/.308 in 23 games.

In 2017, he played a couple of games for the Helena Brewers of the Pioneer League, going 1 for 5, but once again spent the bulk of the year in the Arizona League. He was hitting .255 in 35 games when on August 26, he was in the chest by a pitch thrown by Austin Krzeminski of the AZL Angels. He suffered a heart attack as a result of the blow and had to be evacuated to a hospital, where his condition was listed as stable but critical. The accident happened in the 9th inning and the game was immediately terminated afterwards. A week after the incident, on September 1st, the Brewers reported that he was still in critical condition at a hospital in the Phoenix, AZ area. He remained on life support for three weeks, but then began what the club called a "remarkable recovery" after being moved to a hospital in his home country of Venezuela, something which was done at his family's request.