Former Mariners, Cubs pitcher Yoervis Medina dies at 37 in Venezuela

Yoervis Medina, a former major league relief pitcher who played for the Seattle Mariners and Chicago Cubs, died Thursday at age 37 after a medical emergency while driving in his native Venezuela, local reports said. Venezuelan team Cardenales de Lara announced his death on social media, and Venezuelan media accounts said Medina suffered a suspected heart attack while driving in Naguanagua, Carabobo, leading to a crash near a shopping center in which his vehicle struck several parked cars. Emergency responders pronounced him dead at the scene, according to the reports.

Medina signed with the Seattle Mariners as an amateur free agent in 2005 and spent seven seasons in their minor league system before making his major league debut in April 2013. Over parts of three big league seasons with Seattle and Chicago from 2013 through 2015, he appeared in 146 games, compiling a 10-9 record with a 3.08 earned run average and 147 strikeouts, according to team and league records. Seattle traded him to the Cubs in May 2015 for catcher Welington Castillo; Medina made five appearances for Chicago that season before moving back to the minors and changing organizations.