The “Vanimal” has landed in Somerset, New Jersey, as the Patriots yesterday announced the signing of eight-year Major League veteran pitcher Vance Worley for the 2020 season.
The Long Beach State University alumnus most recently pitched for Triple-A Las Vegas in the New York Mets organization in 2018 before he took the 2019 season off for personal reasons.
Worley enters his first year with Somerset and first in the Atlantic League. In addition to the Mets, the right-handed pitcher’s Major League time includes stops with the Philadelphia Phillies, Minnesota Twins, Pittsburgh Pirates, Baltimore Orioles and Miami Marlins.
Worley cracked a Major League roster in 2010 with the Phillies and later finished third in National League Rookie of the Year voting in 2011 after he went 11-3 with a 3.01 ERA and 119 strikeouts over 25 games (21 starts). He received 25 percent of the vote, trailing only Craig Kimbrel and Freddie Freeman.
Worley enjoyed other fine seasons in MLB, as he went 8-4 and posted a career-best 2.85 ERA over 18 games (17 starts) with the Pirates in 2014.
The former third-round selection of Philadelphia in the 2008 MLB amateur draft went on to post a 4.02 ERA over 23 games (eight starts) with Pittsburg the next season, followed by a 3.53 ERA across 35 games (four starts) with the Orioles in 2016.
Of Worley’s eight seasons in “The Show,” Worley posted an ERA of 4.02 or lower in five of them.
Worley amassed 35 wins with a 4.09 ERA, two saves and 497 strikeouts over 667.0 innings of work through his eight campaigns in MLB.
__ Jerry Del Priore
