CPBL Foreign Players Updates Volume #358
Uni-Lions News: Yohander Méndez
On December 28, the Uni-Lions announced the signing of Yohander Méndez for the 2025 CPBL season. According to TSNA, the 29-year-old Venezuelan left-hander is reportedly on an annual salary of 560,000 USD.
Yohander Méndez began his professional career with the Texas Rangers system in 2012 and quickly made his MLB debut in 2016 as the team added him to the 40-man roster to protect him from the Rule 5 Draft.
From 2016 to 2019, he was up and down the Rangers system but still managed to log 47.2 innings in the MLB with a 6.23 ERA across those four seasons.
After leaving the MLB system, Yohander Méndez split his time playing in Mexico and Venezuela between 2021 and 2022. Due to his performance, it eventually landed him a contract in Japan with the Yomiuri Giants.
In the 2023 NPB season, Yohander Méndez posted a solid 2.07 ERA and 1.03 WHIP over 87.0 innings. However, he was unable to replicate the same success in the following year. In 2024, he spent most of his time with the Giants’ farm team and only registered 4.1 innings with a 12.46 ERA in the first team. At the end of the season, the Giants decided not to renew his contract for 2025.
During the 2024 offseason, Yohander Méndez represented Venezuela in the WBSC Premier12 tournament. He had three relief appearances against the Netherlands, Japan and the USA and tossed 3.1 scoreless innings. Out of those 3.1 innings, 2.2 innings were against Japan.
Leading to his signing with the Uni-Lions, Yohander Méndez was active in the Venezuela Winter League, but the numbers were nothing to write home about. In 14.2 innings, he surrendered 15 earned runs with 19 walks.
Further Readings
Foreign players come and go. Therefore, we have compiled a foreign player tracker, and I’ll be updating that list regularly to keep pace with the ever-changing roster shuffle throughout the 2025 CPBL season.
