Former Toronto Blue Jays pitcher Brian Wolfe has died aged 45.His wife, Rachell, shared the tragic news of his death on social media after a ‘difficult and torturous battle’.Wolfe pitched in Major League Baseball for three years, playing for the Toronto Blue Jays and having a 5-5 win-loss record.He went on to play overseas in Japan for nine years, most recently with the Saitama Seibu Lions until 2018.No cause of death has been confirmed.Rachell Wolfe wrote Tuesday on her Facebook account: ‘I’m sorry to write this but after a really really difficult and torturous battle Brian Wolfe passed away early this morning.’ Brian Wolfe, a former Major League Baseball pitcher, has died aged 45, his wife announced Wolfe was drafted by the Minnesota Twins back in 1999 and spent six years in their systemWolfe was a sixth-round MLB Draft pick out of Servite High School in 1999, being selected by the Minnesota Twins and spending six years in their minor league system.He was released in May 2005 and joined the Milwaukee Brewers system, before being traded to Toronto in exchange for Corey Koskie.It was in Canada that he finally made it to the major leagues, making his long-awaited MLB debut in May 2007 against the New York Yankees.He found himself at the center of a controversial incident after Alex Rodriguez appeared to distract a fielder preparing to catch a fly ball off Wolfe’s pitching by shouting ‘mine!’, leading to a run being scored and charged to Wolfe.He went on to make a career-high 38 appearances with a 2.98 ERA out of the Blue Jays bullpen in 2007, and ended his career with 72 major league appearances and a 3.81 ERA over three seasons.He finished his career with a lengthy stint in Japan, playing for three teams and crossing paths with superstar Shohei Ohtani, with Wolfe’s final season with the Nippon Ham Fighters the first Ohtani played for the organization.Former MLB outfielder Brandon Barnes, a fellow California native, said he had ‘lost one of my best friends and mentors’ as he posted a lengthy and powerful video after Wolfe’s passing. In a video posted to his Facebook page, Barnes said: ‘Life is too short and I know everybody says that, but I just lost one of my best friends and a mentor, and those words hit a lot different now. Wolfe eventually made his way to the major leagues with the Toronto Blue Jays in 2007 Wolfe played over 70 games in the major leagues for the Blue Jays then played in Japan’Because eventually there will be a last conversation with somebody you love. A last phone call, a last laugh, a last text, a last time you see them.’And most of the time you won’t know it’s the last one, and that’s the part that gets me. We spend so much of our lives worried about the s*** that doesn’t matter.’If you love somebody, tell them. If somebody changed your life, make sure they know that. If you’ve been meaning to call somebody, pick up the phone and call them.’