The Algodoneros de Guasave signed utility player Justin Wylie on September 2 for the 2024-25 Liga ARCO Mexicana del Pacifico regular season.
UN AUTÉNTICO DOLOR DE CABEZA PARA LOS RIVALES SE UNE A NUESTRA LEGIÓN EXTRANJERA ????????????
El infielder norteamericano, Justin Wylie se convierte en nuestro sexto importado para la temporada 2024-2025????
✅ Defensiva
✅ Poder¡ Bienvenido Justin ! ????️????????#JuntosSomosMásAG pic.twitter.com/DRXQeTnK8U
— Algodoneros de Guasave (@AlgodonerosGsv) September 2, 2024
Wylie, 28, was born in Lancaster, Pa., and has played five seasons in the independent leagues with the Birmingham-Bloomfield Beavers in the United States Baseball League in 2019, the New Jersey Jackals in the Frontier League from 2021-22, the Kansas City Monarch in the American Association in 2023, and this season with the Gastonia Baseball Club in the Atlantic League.
Wylie also played in college with San Diego State University from 2015-17 before transferring to the University of Arizona for the 2019 regular season.
Wylie, after playing his senior season at Arizona, signed with the Birmingham-Bloomfield Beavers and played in 23 games. He hit .386 with 101 plate appearances, cracking 17 hits, one double, one triple, two home runs, 14 RBI, one stolen base, 22 walks, and 19 strikeouts.
He did not play in the 2020 season due to the COVID-19 pandemic and the Major League Baseball Draft being just five rounds during that year. After no big league clubs had contacted Wylie for the 2021 season, he decided to play in the independent leagues.
In his second professional season with New Jersey, Wylie played in 80 games and batted .289 with 326 plate appearances, smacking 80 hits, 25 doubles, 15 home runs, 64 RBI, four stolen bases, 38 walks, 66 strikeouts, and a .914 OPS.
During his third season with the Jackals, Wylie hit .306 and played in 93 games with 399 plate appearances. He ripped 103 hits, 19 doubles, four triples, 20 home runs, 77 RBI, swiping 12 bases, 49 walks, 74 strikeouts, and a .961 OPS.
Wylie played for the Great Britain national team at the 2023 World Baseball Classic Qualifiers in Regensburg, Germany, at Armin-Wolf-Arena. He played in three games defensively at third base and batted .385 with 13 at-bats, scoring three runs, striking five hits, one double, one home run, four RBI, one stolen base, four walks, and two strikeouts.
Great Britain qualified for the 2023 WBC by beating Spain 10-9 in the bottom of the 10th inning from a game-winning sacrifice fly by first baseman Alex Crosby, scoring designated hitter Matt Koperniak.
Wylie played for the Great Britain national team at the 2023 WBC in Pool C at Chase Field in Phoenix, Ariz., against the United States, Colombia, and Mexico. He played in only two games with four at-bats and struck out once without recording a hit.
