Born August 12, 1984 James Wes Etheridge, better known as “Wes” Etheridge, has had many ups and downs early in his baseball career.

Originally drafted in the 12th round  of the 2007 MLB Amateur Draft by the Milwaukee Brewers, Etheridge spent two seasons with the Brewers organization before both sides decided to part ways.

At 24 years old in 2009, Wes Etheridge found himself at a crossroad, attempting to decide whether being a professional baseball player was for him. As a result, Etheridge, would take the entire 2009 season off and instead study to become a Pastor. While forming a youth group in Orange County, California, Etheridge had a dream where God told him to return to baseball.

Wes returned to baseball by travelling to Hawaii and playing with the  Maui Na Koa Ika of the Golden Baseball Independent League. During his tenure with Maui, Etheridge would start in 15 games, accumulating a record of 10 -0  in 92 innings pitched, while striking out 86 and walking only 18 batters. If those numbers weren’t impressive enough, Etheridge’s earned run average, was an incredible 1.76 over the entire season.

It was no surprise then that the Toronto Blue Jays decided to take a chance on Wes Etheridge, signing him to a minor league contract for the 2011 season.

It has been a great decision by the organization thus far, presently with the Dunedin Blue Jays (A), Etheridge has pitched in 40 games, as a reliever and the team’s closer.

How good of a closer you ask? Well last night, Wes Etheridge, recorded his Florida State League leading 29th save, as the Dunedin Blue Jays came away with a 5 – 2 victory. On the season, through the aforementioned 40 games and 29 saves, Etheridge also owns a 1.30 earned run average to go along with 36 strikeouts and six walks in 41.1 innings pitched.

While Etheridge still has a long way to go before he makes his debut with the Toronto Blue Jays, all signs indicate that he could be the organization’s closer soon.