Randy David Wells (born August 28, 1982) is an American former professional

baseball Baseball is a bat-and-ball games, bat-and-ball sport played between two team sport, teams of nine players each, taking turns batting (baseball), batting and Fielding (baseball), fielding. The game occurs over the course of several Pitch ...

pitcher In baseball, the pitcher is the player who throws ("Pitch (baseball), pitches") the Baseball (ball), baseball from the pitcher's mound toward the catcher to begin each play, with the goal of out (baseball), retiring a batter (baseball), batter, ...

. He played in

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(MLB) for the

Toronto Blue Jays The Toronto Blue Jays are a Canadian professional baseball team based in Toronto. The Blue Jays compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) American League East, East Division. Since 1989, the team has p ...

and

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Professional career

Wells was drafted by the

in the 38th round (1,143rd overall) of the 2002 MLB draft as a catcher. He spent his career in the Chicago Cubs farm system from to before being claimed in the

Rule 5 Draft The Rule 5 draft is a Major League Baseball (MLB) player draft that occurs each year in December, at the annual Winter Meeting of general managers. The Rule 5 draft aims to prevent teams from stockpiling too many young players on their minor lea ...

by the

before the season. Wells made the opening day roster and made his debut on April 5, , against the

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and pitched a scoreless inning. It was his only appearance for the Blue Jays because he was designated for assignment on April 9, 2008. Wells was returned to the Cubs organization on April 16, and was assigned to the Triple-A

Iowa Cubs The Iowa Cubs are a Minor League Baseball team of the International League and the Triple-A (baseball), Triple-A affiliate of the Chicago Cubs. They are located in Des Moines, Iowa, and are named for their Major League Baseball (MLB) affiliate. T ...

. On September 9, 2008, the Cubs placed Jon Lieber on the 60-day DL and called up Wells to replace him on the roster. After

spring training Spring training, also called spring camp, is the preseason of the Summer Professional Baseball Leagues, such as Major League Baseball (MLB), and it is a series of practices and exhibition games preceding the start of the regular season. Spri ...

in 2009, he was returned to the

. Wells was called up to the Cubs active roster on May 5, 2009 in place of the injured Carlos Zambrano. He made his first start on May 8 against the

Milwaukee Brewers The Milwaukee Brewers are an American professional baseball team based in Milwaukee. The Brewers compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (baseball), National League (NL) National League Central, Central Di ...

and struck out five batters in five scoreless innings, but despite leaving the game with a 2–0 lead, the Cubs' bullpen gave up three runs and eventually lost 3–2. Wells got his first Major League win on June 21, 2009 in a 6–2 win over a struggling and injury plagued

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. On July 29, he became the first Cub rookie pitcher to win seven games since Kerry Wood did it in 1998, when he threw eight shutout innings in a 12–0 Cubs win over the last place Astros. Wells finished 6th in the National League Rookie of the Year voting. Randy wrestled with forearm soreness early in 2011, but says his year turned around when teammate Ryan Dempster admonished him in July, "You're a good pitcher.

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feeling sorry for yourself because your arm's been bothering you, and go out there and pitch like you know you can pitch." So he did: The result was five straight wins, including a two-hit shutout. Wells was designated for assignment by the Cubs on June 27, 2012. At the time, he was 1–2 with a 5.34 ERA in 12 games (four starts). On October 6, 2012, Wells elected free agency. On December 6, 2012, Wells signed a minor league contract with the Texas Rangers organization. On April 30, he announced his retirement.

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{{DEFAULTSORT:Wells, Randy 1982 births Living people American expatriate baseball players in Canada Baseball players from Belleville, Illinois Baseball players from Chicago Major League Baseball pitchers Toronto Blue Jays players Chicago Cubs players Boise Hawks players Arizona League Cubs players Lansing Lugnuts players Daytona Cubs players Southwestern Illinois Blue Storm baseball players West Tennessee Diamond Jaxx players Iowa Cubs players Peoria Chiefs players Round Rock Express players