MLB: Phiadelphia Phillies Should Ride Vance Worley Train Until Wheels Fall Off

The 2011 MLB season started off with three thoughts in mind for the Philadelphia Phillies: pitching, pitching and more pitching.  We started the year with what was considered by many to be the best starting rotation in the history of baseball.  With Roy Halladay, Cliff Lee, Roy Oswalt, Cole Hamels and the other guy, we were supposed to destroy all pitching records as both a team and individuals.

Well, here we are at the end of July.  We've seen everything from back spasms to Mother Nature try to derail our memorable season.  We all thought the story was going to be pitching, and we were right.  We were just a little off about who those pitchers would be. 

Halladay is being Halladay, no big story there.  Lee, while erratic at times, is still striking people out like it's going out of style.  And Hamels is giving Halladay a run for the Cy Young like we all hoped—but few expected—he would.

That's where the expected ends and we get into the improbable, unexpected and surprising.  The improbable would be Joe Blanton and his mysterious injury.  Severity unknown, return unlikely.  The unexpected is Oswalt and his battle with back problems and tornadoes.  But the most compelling storyline is the surprising.  

And the Phillies player with that distinction is Vance Worley.

Starting off the season in the minors, Worley wasn't on anyone's radar.  He was a run-of-the-mill starting pitcher who might fetch some trade bait or slip in to a bullpen role later in the year.  Nobody paid much attention to the guy who was living in the shadows of future superstars like Jarred Cosart or Trevor May.  These guys were the future of Phillies pitching, and Worley was destined to—at best—play a supporting role.

Selected out of Long Beach State College with the 102nd pick the in 2008 MLB Amateur Draft, Worley hit the majors for a short stint in 2010.  He pitched a scoreless ninth and was sent back down to the minors to make room for J.A. Happ.  In a crazier stroke of fate, the next time he pitched in the majors, he pitched six shutout innings and was lifted for the only prospect Phillies fans cared about at the time, Domonic Brown.  Worley wouldn't see another major league start until the 2011 season.  

Worley spent the next few weeks being the most traveled man in the organization.  He was promoted, demoted, promoted and again demoted to make room for more "important" players and prospects.  

Even more embarrassing, the last time he was sent to the minors was to make room for a player who doesn't belong on anyone's roster, Mike Zagurski.  After three strong starts in Lehigh Valley, he was again promoted to the major league roster.  

Now it seems if demoting him may be near impossible.

After a dominant complete game performance (his first one, by the way), he is now 7-1 and sporting a 2.02 ERA.  Rookie of the Year anyone?

Now you can look at this one of two ways.  One, he is a lucky pitcher who is pitching well only because teams don't have a book on him, a la Happ.  Or, you can look at it the way I do.  He is a strong pitcher who locates his pitches. While he doesn't possess dominant speed, he has great deception and works very quickly regardless of the situation.  

He may not have the change-up of King Felix or a slider that brings you to your knees like Mo, but he is strong nonetheless.  

If you listen to the talking heads, they will rattle on about pitchers' "stuff."  They are actually talking about the deception and/or nastiness of the pitches thrown.  They will go into deep explanation about how Worley doesn't have amazing "stuff."  

But let me ask you this: If a pitcher's "stuff" consistently leaves teams scoreless, isn't that the "stuff" we are looking for?  I tend to think it's exactly what we're looking for, and it's exactly what we're getting with the Vanimal.

Let's take a look at Worley's stats for the last five games:

• vs. BOS   7.0 IP   1 ER   5 SO    Result: W
• vs. FLA    7.0 IP   0 ER   6 SO    Result: W
• vs. NYM   5.1 IP   1 ER   4 SO    Result: W
• vs. CHC   8.0 IP   1 ER   7 SO    Result: W
• vs. SFG   9.0 IP   2 ER   5 SO    Result: W 

Yes, those are Worley's stats, not Halladay's. 

Now, the sports "experts" will tell you that he is due for a regression, but that's not always true.  Just because he wasn't on their radar doesn't mean he isn't an ace in the making.  Halladay was sent down to the minors, and people thought he lacked the ability to be a star pitcher in the majors.  Look what he has done. 

Hamels managed World Series MVP honors with just two pitches and then people thought he lost it in '09.  He came back with a developed cutter and dominated the league in later 2010 and so far in 2011.  Sadly, ESPN will only give credence to pitchers it saw coming and rolled out the appropriate colored carpet for.

I am in no way saying Worley is the second coming of Cy Young, but can't we at least give him the credit he is due while he pitches like an ace?  Against the Giants, I saw a pitcher who was dominant on the field and couldn't be happier in the dugout.  He is handling the pressure with the smile of a man who just won the lottery. 

I say we ride this young man until the wheels fall off.  And that's if they ever do come off.  If they don't...well, wouldn't that be something?