John Wesley (minors02)

John David Wesley
(Big John)

• Bats Right, Throws Right
• Height 6' 6", Weight 263 lb.
• School Brevard Junior College, University of South Carolina
• High School W. Tresper Clarke High School

• Born October 14, 1980 in Flushing, NY USA

BR Minors page

Biographical Information

John Wesley has pitched and coached in the minors.

Wesley was 9-0 with a 1.52 ERA and 96 strikeouts in 52 innings in high school. The New York Mets took him in the 25th round of the 1998 amateur draft but he opted for college. In junior college in 1999, he went 2-2 with a save. He transferred to South Carolina in 2000 and went 2-1 with 3 saves and a 4.43 ERA. He pitched just 2 1/3 innings in 2001 before an arm injury and was redshirted. In 2002, the 21-year-old went 2-0 with a save and a 3.57 ERA in 11 games for the #2 team in NCAA Division I. He went undrafted and the Toronto Blue Jays signed him.

Big John was 3-0 with two saves and a 1.88 ERA as a rookie for the Medicine Hat Blue Jays, fanning 38 in 28 2/3 innings. He went 2-5 with a 3.48 ERA for the 2003 Charleston Alley Cats, moving into the rotation. In 2004, Wesley battled arm injuries and struggled in his limited time with Charleston (0-3, 10.80) and the Auburn Doubledays (0-1, 4.26). Let go by Toronto, he signed with the independent Sioux Falls Canaries and posted a 5-5, 3.74 record with two saves in 2005, but with 33 walks in 55 1/3 innings.

Wesley began 2006 strong with Sioux Falls (6 Sv, 1.42, 15 K in 12 2/3 IP), earning him a contract from the Chicago White Sox. Assigned to the Kannapolis Intimidators, the right-hander went 1-3 with four saves, a 3.66 ERA and 46 whiffs in 39 1/3 innings. In 2007, he played for Kannapolis (1-0, 5 Sv, 0.79, 17 K in 11 1/3 IP), the Winston-Salem Warthogs (1-2, 7 Sv, 2.84, 32 K in 25 1/3 IP) and the Birmingham Barons (1-2, 4.11, 18 K in 15 1/3 IP).

During 2008, John started with the New York Mets' St. Lucie Mets affiliate, but was bombed for 10 runs in 5 1/3 innings and was released. He then signed with the St. Paul Saints and was 2-1 with a 4.24 ERA in 18 games, before finishing the year with the Grand Prairie Airhogs (6 shutout innings, just one hit). His last playing season was 2009, when he was 0-2 with a 6.35 ERA for Grand Prairie. Overall in the minors, the New Yorker was 16-24 with 26 saves and a 3.78 ERA in 199 games.

• 2010-2011 Pitching coach GCL Blue Jays

Sources

• USC bio
• 2010 Blue Jays Media Guide
• MILB.com