Gastonia’s Wylie joins exclusive club

Gastonia second baseman Justin Wylie has become a member of one of the most elite “clubs” in the Atlantic League. Wylie is just the third player in league history to accumulate 30 homers and 20 stolen bases in the same season.

Wylie joins Ozzie Canseco (Newark, 2000) who had 48 homers and 21 RBI, and Spire City’s Leobaldo Cabrera who blasted 34 homers with 20 stolen bases in 2023. With 26 games remaining in the 2024 campaign, Wylie is second in the ALPB with 30 homers and stole his 20^th base against Lexington on August 2.

A native of Lancaster, Pa., Wylie, 27, played collegiately at San Diego State and the University of Arizona. He went undrafted despite a stellar amateur resume. He earned Mountain West All-Tournament honors with SDSU in both 2015 and 2016. As a senior at Arizona in 2019, Wylie hit .341 with five homers, 15 doubles and 37 RBI. In his final week as a collegian, Wiley was named the Pac-12 Player of the Week after leading the Wildcats to a sweep of Washing State.

He began his pro career in the United Shore league before playing the 2021 and ’22 seasons with the New Jersey Jackals of the Frontier League. Wylie hit .309 with Kansas City in the American Association in 2023 with 17 homers and 16 stolen bases before landing in Gastonia this season.

After helping the Baseball Club to the Atlantic League’s South Division first half championship, Wylie and Gastonia are assured a spot in the ALPB postseason.

But Wylie’s accomplishments are not limited to the baseball diamond. While he was the starting third baseman for the 2022 Great Britain World Baseball Classic Qualifier team, he is also forging a career in journalism. He has hosted a student-athlete centered podcast and also covered the San Diego State baseball team for The Daily Aztec. The aspiring broadcaster was a color analyst on Arizona baseball broadcasts during the 2020 season.

Wylie may soon have some company in the exclusive 30-20 club. York’s David Washington has already hit the 30-homer mark and could add to his season total of 16 stolen bases.