Forgotten Pittsburgh Pirates: Pitcher Vance Worley

The 2014 Pittsburgh Pirates had some unlikely heroes throughout the season. Vance Worley was one of them.

2014 was an interesting year for the Pittsburgh Pirates rotation. There were many unlikely heroes like Edinson Volquez, who had awful numbers in 2013, and the name we’re here to talk about today, right-handed pitcher Vance Worley.

Worley was originally a Philadelphia Phillies prospect, but never ranked in the top 100. Regardless, he made his presence known through the Phillies minor league system, and eventually got a chance to start regularly in 2011.

In his rookie season, Worley pitched 131.2 innings to the tune of a 3.01 ERA, 3.32 FIP, and 1.23 WHIP. Although he did have less inspiring ERA estimators with a 3.66 xFIP and 3.71 SIERA, these were still good numbers for a rookie season and I don’t think anyone would complain if their 5th starter was projected to have a 3.50-3.70 ERA.

But Phillies fans likely don’t even remember him being that good during his rookie campaign. After all, he was the 5th starter to what might be the best rotation of the 2010 decade that included Cole Hamels, Roy Halladay, Cliff Lee, and Roy Oswalt. Halladay and Lee finished 2nd and 3rd in Cy Young voting, Hamles finished 5th, Worley finished 3rd in Rookie of the Year voting, and Oswalt had a 3.69 ERA and 3.44 FIP in 139 innings.

Worley’s over performance caught up to him in 2012. His FIP closely resembled his SIERA at 3.85, while his ERA spiked to 4.20 in 133 innings of work. He also struck out way less batters clocking in with a 21.5% strikeout rate. That was a fair drop off from 2011’s 23.5% rate. His line drive rate also took a large spike going from just 15.2% in 2011 to 23.5% in 2012.

Following the 2012 season, Worley was dealt to the Minnesota Twins with Trevor May for outfielder Ben Revere. It’s not a stint that he probably likes remembering. Not only did he get injured, but he struggled in the little bit of major league action he did see.

Through the 48.2 innings Worley saw in a Twins uniform, he gave up 82 base hits(!) and nine were home runs. His ERA ballooned to over 7 at 7.21. In three seasons, Vance Worley went from potential long term building block for the Phillies, to solid back end starter, to a pitcher struggling to stay in the Majors.

That’s when the Pittsburgh Pirates swooped in and purchased his contract from the Twins. At first glance, it looked like just another depth move, but because of injuries to starters Gerrit Cole and Charlie Morton, Worley got a chance to play with the Pittsburgh Pirates, and he sure took full advantage of that.

Worley ended up being one of the Pittsburgh Pirates best starters in 2014. In 110 innings, Worley spun a brilliant 2.85 ERA, 3.44 FIP, and 1.21 WHIP. Walks were a complete non-issue for Worley as he issued just 22 free passes against the 458 batters he faced. He also surrendered just nine home runs, the same amount he had with the Twins but in over 50 less innings.

Like in 2011, his ERA estimators painted him as over-performing. He clocked in with a 3.54 xFIP, 3.68 SIERA and 3.57 DRA. Still though, those were solid numbers and any team would love to have a guy who averaged 6.1 innings a start and gave them an ERA in the mid-3s.

In the following year, Worley started out the year in the rotation filling in for an injured Morton, but was eventually moved to the pen. Now, Worley did struggle out of the rotation, having a 4.38 ERA, and 3.72 FIP in 39 innings but started to do better out of the bullpen. In his next 30 innings, he yielded a much better looking 3.00 ERA and his FIP stayed relatively similar at 3.99. Regardless, the Pirates had optioned him to Triple-A before recalling him for September. During the final month of the season, Worley surrendered three earned runs in just 2.2 innings of work, and allowed six base hits and two walks. Overall, Worley’s bottom line included a 4.02 ERA, 3.82 FIP, and 1.42 WHIP in 71.2 innings of work.

After his tenure with the Pittsburgh Pirates, Worley latched on with the Baltimore Orioles for the 2016 season, but struggled there too and put up his worst season so far. Serving as a swing man for the O’s, the right-handed pitcher appeared in 35 games and started four. He pitched a total of 86.2 innings. He may have had a better looking 3.53 ERA, but it was an empty ERA for lack of a better term.

Worley walked a lot more batters. His 9.6% walk rate was the highest of his MLB career in a season where he had at least 50 innings pitched. He also gave up 11 home runs, resulting in a 1.1 HR/9, another career worst. Although he never was a strikeout pitcher, those also reached a career low at 15.3%. Hard hit baseballs became a major issue for Worley. His hard hit percentage rose to 31.6%, yet another career worst. If you are a pitcher in Baltimore, the last thing you want to do is give up a lot of fly balls. That’s what Vance did, as his fly ball rate reached 34%. Worley’s ERA might have been good, but that was about the only thing good about 2016 for the veteran. He finished the year with a 4.82 FIP, 4.92 xFIP, 4.79 SIERA, and 6.02 DRA, making it the worst year of his career where he appeared in more than a dozen games, so far.

In 2017, Worley served as a swing man yet again. This time, for the Miami Marlins appearing in 24 games and starting 12 of them. If you thought it couldn’t get worse for Worley, well it did. His ERA finally caught up to him as it rose to 6.91, while his FIP (4.90), xFIP (4.98) SIERA (4.99) and DRA (6.55) all stayed relatively close to their 2016 levels. 2017 was the last time Worley played in a major league game.

Like the start of his career with the crosstown rival Phillies, Vance Worley’s tenure with the Pirates started off strong, but ended when he flared out during their second season. However at the very least, Worley did play a large role in the Pirates Wild Card run during 2014.