Yonathan Mendoza

Yonathan Alberto Mendoza Jiménez

• Bats Both, Throws Right
• Height 5' 11", Weight 167 lb.

• Born February 10, 1994 in Quibor, Lara Venezuela

BR register page

Biographical Information

Yonathan Mendoza peaked at AA and has been on the Venezuelan national team.

He was initially signed by Cleveland Indians scouts Ramon Pena and Antonio Caballero in March 2011. He hit .239/.348/.272 for thye 2011 DSL Indians, fielding .930 at short. Returning there the next season, he improved his hitting to .287/.401/.309 in a utility role. Coming stateside in 2013, he batted .281/.367/.346 for the AZL Indians.

With the Mahoning Valley Scrappers in 2014, he hit .239/.322/.286 as a backup infielder. He split 2015 between the Lake County Captains (.286/.360/.362 in 60 G), Lynchburg Hillcats (1 for 6) and Akron RubberDucks (.281/.362/.351 in 19 G). In his Venezuelan League debut, he was 0 for 3 for the 2015-2016 Cardenales de Lara. In 2016, he was with the Scrappers (.250/.340/.386 in 13 G), Captains (.245/.303/.295 in 57 G) and Hillcats (.327/.413/.364 in 17 G). He was 3-for-11 with two walks and a double for the 2016-2017 Cardenales.

Mendoza spent most of 2017 with Lynchburg (.307/.382/.370 in 72 G) and spent some time with Akron (.196/.255/.294 in 15 G). In 2017-2018, he was 2-for-22 with two walks and a double for Lara. A free agent, he signed with the Seattle Mariners, who assigned him to the Arkansas Travelers for 2018. A starter at short, he hit .261/.347/.291 and fielded .961 there. In the winter of 2018-2019, he produced at a .250/.284/.325 rate for Lara.

A free agent again, he was picked up by the Cincinnati Reds. He split 2019 between the Daytona Tortugas (.237/.303/.298 in 80 G) and the Chattanooga Lookouts (.233/.303/.300 in 11 G), back in his old utility role. In 2019-2020, he had a fine winter at .308/.354/.414 with a league-leading four triples. In 2020-2021, he hit .284/.381/.453 for Lara. He was 1-for-7 for Lara in 2021-2022 then moved to the Tigres de Aragua, going 3-for-15 with a walk for them.

For the 2022-2023 Tigres, he hit .282/.377/.382 with 9 doubles in 40 games and fielded .951 as their main shortstop. In the 2023 Pan American Games, he started at short for Venezuela. He doubled off Brazil's Felipe Sales in his first plate appearance for his country. He hit .333/.467/.333 with two runs in four games and handled 10 chances without an error. He tied for 6th with three walks and tied Eduardo Thomas Jr. for 10th with 8 assists.

In 2023-2024, he hit .315/.369/.446 for Aragua, now playing right field usually.