Players

Jared Wetherbee returns to Sioux City for his third season with a career record of 8-9 in partner league ball with a 4.36 ERA in 29 games with 28 starting nods for the X’s. Wetherbee was tied for the team lead in wins in 2024 with six after going 6-5 with a 4.39 ERA in 84 innings. He made 16 starts and struck out 93 batters, surrendering 41 earned runs on 68 hits with 55 walks issued in 2024. Wetherbee posted a 1.464 WHIP on the season. He finished second on the club in strikeouts and third in innings pitched in 2024. Wetherbee reached career high milestones in strikeouts and innings pitched as a professional. It was the sixth time as a pro that Wetherbee had averaged 10 strikeouts per nine innings pitched in his career.

Wetherbee spent the entire 2024 season in the starting rotation for Sioux City and picked up his first win at Chicago on May 19, tossing six innings of two hit-ball and surrendering just one earned run with nine strikeouts in a 5-2 win for the Explorers. He pitched at least five innings in 12 of his starts and recorded five quality starts–six innings of three earned runs or fewer–on the season. Wetherbee had a stint on the injured list from July 8 to July 21 during the middle of the Explorers season. Despite being sidelined, he would record wins in three straight starts from June 25 to July 21, yielding six earned runs over 16 innings with 12 strikeouts during that stretch.

On August 21, Wetherbee hurled a gem in a 1-0 win over Kansas City at home. He threw seven scoreless innings, giving up just two hits and claiming a season-high 10 strikeouts in the win over the X’s rivals from KCK. He would again match the 10 strikeouts on his next start in a 5-0 loss at Sioux Falls and would strike out 20 combined over his last 11 innings of the regular season as the X’s raced to the postseason. In the 2024 American Association playoffs, Wetherbee made one start, giving up one earned run in four innings on three hits with another five strikeouts in a 7-1 win at Fargo-Moorhead on September 6. It was his first appearance with Sioux City in the postseason.

The lefty originally signed on May 2, 2023, and he would make his first start on May 16 at home against Lake Country. He would work 3.2 innings in a 3-1 win, picking up a no decision with five strikeouts. Wetherbee won his next two starts, going five innings in each outing to close out May with just three earned runs in 10 innings. Over his first 13.2 innings, Wetherbee would punch out 18 batters for the X’s. His longest outing of the season came on the road at Cleburne on June 1. He worked seven innings in a 6-5 win for Sioux City, holding the Railroaders to one earned run on four hits with seven strikeouts.

Wetherbee pitched at least five innings in five consecutive outings into mid-June before arm fatigue slowed his season down. He would leave his June 18 start at Lincoln after 3.2 innings, and he would not return to action until July 2. Wetherbee would then miss most of the rest of the month of July, not returning until the Explorers faced Kansas City at home on July 30 when he threw three scoreless innings of relief for Sioux City in a 4-0 loss to the Monarchs.

Wetherbee was back in the rotation on August 6 and would throw three innings at Gary in a 5-2 loss, but he had five strikeouts while picking up the loss. He rebounded for a four-inning outing on August 19, holding the Sioux Falls Canaries to one earned run on two hits with three strikeouts in the Explorers 11-3 win at the bird cage. Two outings later, Wetherbee would finish strong with a quality start in a hard-luck loss at Chicago on September 3. He would hold the Dogs to three earned runs on six hits with another six strikeouts in a 3-0 shutout setback. For the season, Wetherbee would go 2-4 with a 4.31 ERA in 56.1 innings with 65 strikeouts while walking 25 and surrendering 27 earned runs on 57 hits. He added a 1.456 WHIP while finishing fourth on the team in strikeouts and fifth in innings pitched.

Wetherbee, age 26, came to the X’s from the Philadelphia Phillies organization where the southpaw from Worcester, Massachusetts played from 2021 to 2022 between rookie and class-A level. In 2022, he threw 24.0 innings with a 4.50 ERA, 1.792 WHIP and 36 strikeouts over 19 games at class-A Clearwater. He made one scoreless appearance at the rookie-level Complex League, tossing one frame. In 2021, Wetherbee pitched 11.1 innings between rookie ball and class-A for the Phillies. He had a 0.79 ERA with a 0.794 WHIP and 19 strikeouts over that season. Wetherbee notched three saves with Clearwater in 8.1 innings with 15 strikeouts and a 1.08 ERA. His stay at the rookie level lasted just three innings where he allowed no earned runs in a pair of relief appearances for the Phillies. As a professional, Wetherbee has a career 10-10 record in 140.1 innings 59 games in 176.1 innings with 215 strikeouts and a career 4.14 ERA in both affiliated and partner baseball.

He signed as a free agent with the Phillies organization on July 20, 2021 out of Elon University in Elon, North Carolina, where he pitched for four seasons. In his final season in college, Wetherbee pitched in six games while making four starts, going 16.1 innings with a 3.31 ERA in 2021. The lefty earned a spot on the All-CAA Preseason Team for Elon prior to his senior season. In 2020 he started four games, going 20.1 innings with a 3.54 ERA and 27 strikeouts with a 1.425 WHIP as the Friday starter for Elon. Wetherbee was named to the 2020 Collegiate Baseball Preseason Third Team All-American and was ranked No. 29 out of 150 pitchers by D1Baseball entering the season. Wetherbee threw his fourth career game with 10+ strikeouts against UMass Lowell on February 21, 2020, where he tallied 11 Ks and issued one walk in 7.0 innings of shutout ball. His 27 strikeouts led the team in a shortened 2020 season.

Prior to the pandemic in 2019, Wetherbee pitched in 25 innings, going 84.0 IP with a 3.00 ERA, 1.071 WHIP and 98 strikeouts as a sophomore as the Sunday starter for the Phoenix. He held opposing hitters to a .218  average against for the season. Wetherbee had a 12-strikeout performance over six innings and another 10 punch out effort in 6.2 innings in a pair of starts for Elon. He garnered CAA Co-Pitcher-of-the-Week honors on April 29 after holding Northeastern scoreless through a career-high 8.0 complete innings pitched. His 98 strikeouts placed him third on the team and the seven victories were good for second for the Phoenix.

In his first season, Wetherbee threw 24.1 innings with a 4.07 ERA coming out of the bullpen as a reliever and picked up four saves. His 45 strikeouts are the ninth most by an Elon freshman at the Division I level, while his four saves are tied for the second most by an Elon freshman. In his collegiate debut, he struck out five in 2.0 scoreless innings against Penn State. Wetherbee earned the first save of his career after allowing one run on two hits and striking out two in an inning against Marshall, and he picked up the first win of his career by tossing 1.1 scoreless innings in a game at Georgia.

In two summer league seasons, the native of Massachusetts worked both as a starter and a reliever. In 2018 he pitched in 25.1 innings for Charlottesville of the Valley League with 11 games and three starts while fanning 44. He would go 3-1, allowing just seven hits for the season. The next summer, in 2019, Wetherbee pitched for Harwich in the Cape Cod League. He made two starts and appeared out of the pen seven times, pitching in 11.2 innings with 14 strikeouts. He added a pair of saves while going 0-1.

In high school Wetherbee was named the 2017 Founder’s League Pitcher of the Year for Avon Old Farms School in Avon, Connecticut. He helped the program to a streak of winning 16 Founder’s League titles in 19 seasons and was named to the 2017 USA Today Connecticut All-State Team and earned ESPN All-State honors.  Wetherbee set a Super 8 Tournament record with 24 strikeouts in 2016 while in high school and helped his Northeast Baseball club to the WWBA 17U national playoffs and a top-50 national ranking. Wetherbee was born in Worcester, Massachusetts and lists his hometown as Fiskdale, MA.