Mendonca

Just when some folks were about to change their tune on Mendonca, the prospect, he went into a tailspin. Don't jump off the bandwagon just yet, however. His slump began right around the time of a personal tragedy for which he took a temporary leave from June 28 to July 3, and hasn't been the same since (until his 3HR game last night of course):


The third baseman, selected 62nd overall in the 2009 Draft, raised his average to .305 and has 20 homers and 71 RBIs in 84 Texas League games. He'd been in a 7-for-51 (.137) slump over 12 contests since the Texas League All-Star Game.

"Not a lot of people know this, but I had two buddies die in a tragic car accident the day before the All-Star Game," said Mendonca, who missed four games and attended two funerals in six days. "There were a lot of personal things on my mind because they were close, dear friends of mine.

"I couldn't care less if I went 0-for-4 or 0-for-5 or 0-for-6 or if I had 300 strikeouts. I would give all this up to have them back. It put it all into perspective."



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