Joey Wendle is an American professional baseball player. He currently plays for the Tampa Bay Rays of Major League Baseball (MLB). He has been associated with the Oakland Athletics earlier.
Wendle has also played a few minor league matches for the Cleveland Indians’ minor league affiliate teams.
Joey Wendle was fond of baseball since childhood, admiring and challenging his two older brothers. The unconditional love for baseball combined with hard work and aspiration got him to MLB.
He has also played travel baseball for the Chester County Crawdads.
Today, we will be talking about Joey Wendle without excluding anything significant that has ever happened in his personal and professional life.
Quick Facts about Joey Wendle
Full name | Joseph Patrick Wendle |
Known As | Joey Wendle |
Nicknames | Mendle, Joe |
Birthdate | April 26, 1990 |
Birthplace | Southern Chester County, Pennsylvania, United States |
Religion | Christian |
Nationality | American |
Horoscope | Taurus |
Father’s name | Scott Wendle |
Mother’s name | Carol Wendle |
Siblings | Two Brothers |
Brother’s name | Andy Wendle Ben Wendle |
Age | 34 Years Old |
Height | 185 cm (6 feet) |
Weight | 88 kg (194 lbs.) |
Eye color | Greyish green |
Hair Color | Black |
Marital Status | Married |
Spouse | Lindsey Wendle |
Children | Two sons |
Sons’ Name | Jack Wendle Luke Wendle |
Profession | Baseball Player |
Position | Second Baseman |
Affiliation | Major League Baseball (MLB) |
Plays for | Tampa Bay Rays |
Draft | 2012, Cleveland Indians, Round: 6, Overall Pick: 203 |
Major league debut | August 31, 2016. |
Former Teams | Oakland Athletics Cleveland Indians’ Minor League Affiliates |
Active Since | 2009 |
Jersey no. | 18 in Tampa Bay Rays |
Awards and Honors | NYP Mid-Season All-Star (2012) CAR Post-Season All-Star (2013) PCL Post-Season All-Star (2015) MiLB.com Organization All-Star (2013 AND 2016) MLBPAA Rays Heart and Hustle Award (2018) Baseball America Major League All-Rookie Team (2018) |
Salary | $575,600 |
Net worth | $1 million |
Social Media Presence | |
Merch | Poster |
Last Update | November, 2024 |
Joey Wendle – Early Life and Family
Joey Wendle was born on April 26, 1990, in Southern Chester County, Pennsylvania, United States. He was born to proud parents Scott Wendle and Carol Wendle.
The Wendlers has three sons: Andy Wendle, Ben Wendle, and Joey Wendle. Joey is the youngest one.
Anybody that knows Wendles closely regards them as a very tight-knitted family with fantastic coordination with each other.
The parents took their kids to the Church, taught them to pray, and perpetuated kindness. The kids were never allowed to get away with crap.
People often say, “Joey is an outstanding and gifted baseball player, but he is even better of a human being.”
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The Wendle Brothers: Little Wendle got it from his brothers
The Wendle family carries a lot of baseball memories from the childhood of their boys. Joey played and competed with his older brothers very often.
Andy and Ben Wendle have a pretty successful baseball history. Andy was a three-year starter at Villanova, while Ben was an All-Conference outfielder at St. Josephs.
Baseball coach Tim Rector trained the Wendle brothers in high school. He describes the eldest Wendle, Andy, as a catcher with good defense and solid arms.
Ben Wendle was an outfielder. He was also an incredible hitter, but Andy was even better than him.
Joey, the youngest Wendle, was a complete package of baseball since his early days. He could play any position. But above all, he was a smooth-handed middle infielder.
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Joey Wendle: Always an athlete
Joey’s first love has to be baseball. But he was indulged in soccer and wrestling as well while in high school. His soccer coach, Dave Whitcraft, describes him as a natural athlete, suitable for most sports.
Wendle was aggressive in the field. He loved and always moved forward in the attack. His body awareness on the soccer could be seen in the wrestling mat as well.
His wrestling coach, Frank McCue, calls the Wendle brothers as all-time baseball players and in-season wrestlers. They were competitive, tough, and hard to be defeated. They were as good as any other wrestler that he has ever coached.
Your potential as an athlete comes from your mental state. Anybody that has ever worked with Joey Wendle regards him as an athlete who collects strength majorly from his mental ability. His mental game guides his movements in the field.
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Joey Wendle – High School and College Baseball
Wendle first went to Avon Grove High School in West Grove, Pennsylvania. He then joined West Chester University in Chester County, Pennsylvania.
Wendle played baseball in his high school and university. He had an image of a relatively short player who could hit.
High School
Wendle played 58 games as a high school freshman in 2009, hitting .325. He got even better in his sophomore year, slashing.389/.443/.635. Consequently, he became a finalist of the bD-II player of the year in 2010.
He then received the opportunity to compete against more advanced talent in the wood-bat New England Collegiate League.
He landed in a pre-season All-American selection before his junior year.
Wendle suffered from a severe injury while in high school junior year in 2011. He had to stay away from baseball for quite a while, almost all of his junior year. He could hit only .346, and his OPS dropped to .906.
Wendle then had to go through a short term position shift, moving the shortstop over to the second base.
He then played in another wood bat league the following summer, the Coastal Plains League. He finished second in the league, hitting at .377 over 53 games for the Edenton Steamers. Wendle also set a league record for hits.
This record still stands as his highest-profile placement to date. It was ha A #7 ranking by Baseball America among second base prospects. He was also labeled as a grinder with a good bat.
Wendle hit a ball about 430 feet down the right-field line as a high school senior in 2012.
College
Wendle played for the West Chester Golden Rams baseball team as a four-year starter.
He recorded a .366 career batting average with 23 home runs and 185 runs batted. He was an All-American, hitting .399/.479/.768 with 12 home runs and 59 RBI in his senior year.
The team had a triumph in the 2012 NCAA Division II Baseball Tournament.
Moreover, Joseph Wendler played travel baseball for the Chester County Crawdads.
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Joey Wendle – Professional Baseball Career
The Cleveland Indians finally picked Wendle in the sixth round of the 2012 Major League Baseball (MLB) draft. His MLB career began, and there is no looking back since then.
Cleveland Indians
Wendle has played in minor leagues for the Cleveland Indians’ minor league affiliate baseball teams. He debuted with the Mahoning Valley Scrappers.
The team plays in the Pinckney Division of the Class A-Short Season New York-Penn League. He hit .327/.375/.469 with four home runs and 37 RBIs in 61 games.
Wendle then got associated with the Carolina Mudcats of the Class A-Advanced Carolina League in the 2013 season. He played over 107 games, hitting .295/.372/.513 with 16 home runs and 64 RBIs.
He was honored with the Lou Boudreau Award as the Cleveland Indians minor league player of the year.
Wendle then played for the Akron RubberDucks of the Class AA Eastern League at the beginning of the 2014 season.
Oakland Athletics
The Cleveland Indians traded Wendle to the Oakland Athletics on December 8, 2014. The trade was made to acquire Brandon Moss.
Wendle played for the Oakland Athletics’ Triple-A affiliate, Nashville Sounds as well. He hit the first home run in the history of First Tennessee Park on April 21, 2015.
Moreover, the Oakland Athletics enlisted him to their 40-man roster after the season.
Wendle played for Nashville in the 2016 season. The Oakland Athletics then promoted him to the major leagues.
He debuted in the Major league on August 31, 2016. He played 36 games for the Oakland Athletics in a span of a season and a half. Wendle registered 29 hits in 109 at-bats.
The Oakland Athletics decided to designate Wendle for an assignment in December 2017, based on his 2017 season’s performance.
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Tampa Bay Rays
The Oakland Athletics traded Wendle to the Tampa Bay Rays on December 11, 2017. The trade was made to acquire Jonah Heim.
2018
Wendle joined spring training in 2018. He competed for the starting second baseman job with Micah Johnson and Daniel Robertson. He hit .327 in 52 spring training at-bats.
The Tampa Bay Rays manager Kevin Cash announced that Wendle had made the team’s Opening Day roster to platoon at second base with Daniel Robertson.
He ended the 2018 season with performances better than all other rookies. He had a batting average of .300, an on-base percentage of .350, and 6 triples.
Wendle was also placed second in hits, recording 146 hits; He also recorded 33 in doubles and 62 runs. As a result, he stood up as the first Tampa Bay Rays player since 2011 to hit .300. Also, he was the first rookie ever to reach that mark.
Moreover, he was tied for the major league lead in sacrifice flies (10).
Wendle was honored with the Tampa Bay Rays Outstanding Rookie award for the 2018 season. He also finished fourth in the American League Rookie of the Year award.
2019
Wendle intended to play vigorously in 2019, starting at second base.
However, he injured his hamstring on March 31. It happened while he was tagging out Jake Marisnick attempting to steal second base.
He was then placed on the 10-day injured list, far from the field. He could come and play after three weeks.
Wendle again injured himself with a fracture in his right wrist. It happened by a hit by pitch.
He was placed on the disabled list on April 24.
In Short, Wendle played 75 games only in the 2019 season, owing to the consequences beyond human control.
You can see Wendle’s career statistics on the website of baseball-reference.
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Joey Wendle – Wife and Children
Joseph Wendle is married to Lindsey Wendle. The couple looks ravishing together.
They have two sons: Jack Wendle and Luke Wendle.
You can see the latest news relating to Joey Wendle’s personal and professional life on MLB’s website.
Joey Wendle – Salary and Net Worth
Wendle makes some really good money from his baseball career. He reportedly earns 575,600 USD on average annually as of 2020.
Joey Wendle’s net worth is estimated to be around $1 million.
He lives a pretty decent life with his wife and children.
Joey Wendle – Social Media Presence
Wendle prefers to have a private life. He does not post much on social media. You can follow him on Twitter via this hashtag:
Common Queries about Joey Wendle
Did Joey Wendle wrestle?
The MLB baseball player Joey Wendle was indulged in wrestling while in high school. His wrestling coach, Frank McCue, describes him as a damn good wrestler.
He wrestled in the 140-pound weight class in his senior year of high school. Like most passionate wrestlers, he even cut weight during the wrestling season to wrestle at a lower weight class.
Is Joey Wendle a free agent?
No, Joey Wendle is not a free agent as of now. He signed a contract with the Tampa Bay Rays and plays for them currently.
Is Joey Wendle religious?
Joey Wendle calls himself a follower of Jesus Christ. He grew up in a very religious household with frequent church visits as a kid.
Henceforth, Joey Wendle is a devotee of Christianity.