Phillies Nation

Prospect Rankings No. 8: Vance Worley

Posted by Ben Seal, Fri, September 18, 2009 12:00 PM

Vance Worley, RHP

Born: 9/25/1987 in Sacramento, California

Height: 6’2”

Weight: 220

Alongside fellow righty Mike Stutes, Worley was drafted by the Phils last season (3^rd round, 102 overall) and found himself at double-A Reading to open his first full pro season. That’s a big jump for anyone and Worley handled it well despite not putting up very impressive numbers. He pitched at Long Beach State, a well-known college pitching program, before coming to Philadelphia, and already has some of the polish that prospects take years to develop. With four pitches and great control, he has all the makings of a Top 10 prospect.

Stutes and Worley will always be linked because of their early experiences in the minor leagues. Both were high picks in the ’08 Draft, then pitched at Williamsport and Lakewood last season. Just like Stutes, Worley dominated opponents at those levels, striking out 61 batters against 8 walks in 69 innings last year. The two made the significant leap to Reading together this season, and both struggled to continue their success. With Worley, though, there is reason to believe that there could be a statistical turnaround next year that will elevate his status as a top prospect.

Worley throws four pitches: a four-seam and two-seam fastball, a curveball and a changeup. He offers a two-seamer in the 87-89 range that has some sink, as well as a four-seamer that sits around 91-93 but can touch 94 or 95. The four-seamer has good life as well. His changeup is right where it should be, around 79-81 on the radar gun, and his low-70s curve is developing quickly. Worley’s struggles this season might have been in part caused by an attempt to strengthen all of those pitches and focus on increasing the effectiveness of his off-speed stuff. His greatest strength is probably his control of all those pitches, which his double-A pitching coach said is “major league.”

It was a tough year for Worley, adjusting to an entirely new level of opponents in the Eastern League, but he will need to step it up next year to remain a highly-rated prospect. The pieces are all in place – four pitches, great command, a quality pitching education in college – for him to turn it around quickly and achieve success in 2010. That may mean he starts at Reading to show that he can perform well at double-A, or he might be challenged yet again with a spot in the staff at Lehigh Valley. Either way next year will be a big test for his future in the organization.

Statistics

Year   Level   W   L   ERA    IP     H    ER   BB   K    K/9

2008   A-      0   0    1.12   8.0    3   1     1    8   9.0

2008   A       3   2   2.66   61.0   58   18   7   53   7.8

2009   AA     7   12  5.34  153.1  163  91  49  100  5.9

Rankings – All previous prospect profiles can be found here, which is also on the left sidebar for easy viewing

8.   Vance Worley, RHP
9.   Sebastian Valle, C
10.  Mike Stutes, RHP
11.  Antonio Bastardo, LHP
12.  Anthony Gose, OF
13.  Colby Shreve, RHP
14.  Anthony Hewitt, 3B
15.  Justin De Fratus, RHP
16.  Sergio Escalona, LHP
17.  Yohan Flande, LHP
18.  Julian Sampson, RHP
19.  John Mayberry, Jr., OF
20.  Mike Cisco, RHP
21.  Freddy Galvis, SS
22.  Jonathan Pettibone, RHP
23.  Domingo Santana, OF
24.  Jonathan Singleton, 1B
25.  Drew Naylor, RHP

Permalink Comments (4) | Trackback (0)