A teenage baseball player who was brutally beaten in what police have described as a “gang initiation” in San Pedro last month has been released from the hospital, a family friend said.

Evan Jimenez, 15, suffered brain swelling and a broken jaw after two men confronted him in a San Pedro alleyway, according to police. The assailants smashed a liquor bottle against Jimenez’s head and proceeded to pummel him, investigators said.

The teen was heavily sedated and remained unconscious for several days after the attack, but he was finally released from the hospital on April 22, according to Tammy Meyers, a family friend who has been helping raise funds to pay Jimenez’s medical bills.

“He’s moving forward every day. Always has a smile on his face, so hopefully it just progresses more and more,” she said.

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