Former Toronto Blue Jays right-hander Brian Wolfe died Tuesday at age 45, his wife announced on social media.
The cause of death was not disclosed.
“I’m sorry to write this but after a really really difficult and torturous battle Brian Wolfe passed away early this morning,” Rachell Wolfe wrote.
Wolfe spent his entire three-year major league career with Toronto from 2007-09, making 72 appearances out of the bullpen. He went 5-5 with a 3.81 ERA over 82 2/3 innings.
As a rookie in 2007, Wolfe posted a 2.98 ERA in a career-high 38 games after making his debut May 30 against the New York Yankees.
A native of Fullerton, Calif., Wolfe was selected by the Minnesota Twins in the sixth round of the 1999 draft out of Servite High School. He spent parts of seven seasons in Minnesota’s farm system before eventually joining Milwaukee.
The Brewers traded Wolfe to Toronto for infielder Corey Koskie in January 2006.
Wolfe extended his career for another nine seasons in Japan after leaving the Blue Jays. He pitched for the Hokkaido Nippon-Ham Fighters, Fukuoka SoftBank Hawks and Saitama Seibu Lions from 2010-18.
He went 56-40 with a 3.43 ERA in 167 Nippon Professional Baseball appearances and won consecutive Japan Series championships with SoftBank in 2014 and 2015.
Wolfe’s final professional season came in 2018.
