Former Blue Jays Pitcher Dies After ‘Torturous Battle’ at 45

Brian Wolfe, who pitched three seasons for the Toronto Blue Jays and played professional baseball in Japan for nine years, has died. He was 45. “I’m sorry to write this, but after a really, really difficult and torturous battle, Brian Wolfe died early this morning,” his wife, Rachell Wolfe, wrote Tuesday on Facebook. His cause of death has not been revealed. The Fullerton, California, native spent six years in the minor leagues with the Minnesota Twins before making his major league debut in May 2007. The pitcher made 72 major league appearances across three seasons, finishing with a 5-5 record and a 3.81 ERA. Wolfe played 77 games with the Hokkaido Nippon-Ham Fighters in Nippon Professional Baseball. He overlapped with Shohei Ohtani for one season. Wolfe went on to play with the Fukuoka SoftBank Hawks from 2014 to 2015 and the Seibu Lions from 2016 to 2018 before retiring at the age of 37. Former MLB outfielder Brandon Barnes posted to Facebook: “LIFE IS TOO SHORT Fly High Brother Brian Wolfe.”