A great question asked by Greg in the comments:
Can someone explain why Mark Worrell doesn’t seem to be in the team’s plans? Guy’s got a minor-league career K/9 rate of 10.5. FIP last year at Memphis was 2.86. (And, of course, we know he can hit in the big leagues.) What am I missing?
The numbers present a very strong case for Worrell, look no further than his MLE-57.7 innings, K/9 10.77, BB/9 4.68, .233 batting average against, 3.19 FIP. If that doesn’t do it for you, 25.6% of the batters he faced went down swinging, the third highest rate in the PCL for relievers, behind only Jason Motte and Jason Bulger. I mean, with those kinds of results, one would think we’d be talking about him in the same breath as Motte and Perez.
The thing about Worrell is that he is such an oddball, er, um..unique. He never throws from a windup. He throws from a wide variety of arm slots and angles, but mostly sidearm when facing right-handed batters and over the top facing southpaws. He keeps his front shoulder completely closed off to the batter until his right arm forces it open. When he finishes his delivery, it looks like he wobbles off the mound. He throws two different fastballs, depending on what his opponents handedness. All of it is very quirky, to say the least.
Why I’m not shocked that he gets no love is that unless you have exceptional stuff as a sidearmer or a submariner- a real out pitch -you probably will get ignored longer than you deserve to be. Despite the numbers, by all accounts I’ve ever heard, Worrell’s stuff isn’t exceptional. His repertoire consists of an low-nineties fastball, an average slider and change. But it does plays up because of all the deception.
I certainly don’t think it’s fair that he’s overlooked. It was one thing for him to obliterate the Florida State League, it’s whole other ball of wax for him to have dominated the PCL. I don’t think he’s closer material, but he should make a decent middle reliever. One thing to note is that throughout his minor league career, he does possess somewhat of a noticeable platoon split-4.25 FIP versus lefties, 3.31 against right-handers, so he’s probably more of a situational type in the majors. That would come in handy when facing the likes of Ryan Braun and Aramis Ramirez late in a game, of course.
He has big league potential. I wouldn’t say you are missing anything, Greg. Worrell’s biggest problem is that he has Perez, Motte, McClellan, Franklin and Kinney all ahead of him on the depth chart. His future may lie elsewhere.
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Count me among those with no love for Worrell. Sure, the guy deserves another look, but from what I saw last year I don’t think his effectiveness against righties will translate to MLB. While I guess it is technically correct to refer to his delivery as sidearm, the way he pushes the ball from his body instead of extending his arm away from his body negates whatever angle advantage a RHP should get vs. righties. I hope I am wrong, but I was seriously underwhelmed when I finally saw him pitch.
I have a pet theory that Dave Duncan is petrified of sidearmers. Rick Honeycutt is the last one I can remember, and the last guy they (almost) had, Mike Myers, was surprisingly traded during Spring Training a few years ago. You would think that in 13 years there would be 1-2. Don’t know if Trever Miller quite qualifies as a sidearmer or not, but I was a bit surprised when I saw the the team was pursuing him. Maybe the holdup in the signing is that Duncan has asked him if he can please throw like a normal human.
I’m torn on Worrell. His delivery is unique; it must look, to the batter, like the ball just pops out of his chest. But, to my eye, the movement doesn’t look exceptional and his velocity is solid, but not great. After hearing so much about him in the two years before Perez, Motte, et al emerged, I wasn’t overly impressed with what I saw at the ML level in 2008. He is on the scene a year or two too late to get much play with the big club. That’s the big rub.
What does FIP mean ? How does FIP relate to ERA, or does it ? Happy Thanksgiving.
I think its terrible the organization has not gave Worrell more of a look. With all the bullpen problems last year they gave him 4.2 innings. I think Mark is completely undervalued and I think almost any other team would love to give a guy with his eye popping stats a real chance, not a fake callup.
FIP according the The Hardball Times
Fielding Independent Pitching, a measure of all those things for which a pitcher is specifically responsible. The formula is (HR*13+(BB+HBP-IBB)*3-K*2)/IP, plus a league-specific factor (usually around 3.2) to round out the number to an equivalent ERA number. FIP helps you understand how well a pitcher pitched, regardless of how well his fielders fielded. FIP was invented by Tangotiger.
Erik, thanks for the analysis. Seems clear to me the guy is worthy of a longer shot in the leagues, if not with STL then elsewhere. I must say I’m still puzzled that he’s not at least mentioned more often as trade bait — perhaps not as a centerpiece but as someone a number other teams would value.
I agree…. I dont think the Cards gave Worrell enough of a chance. I think he is highly underestimated and I dont think anyone gives him enough credit. Hopefully he gets a chance soon or traded.
Giveml and meat:
How can you possibly have a valid evaluation of someone after 4.2 innings? That type of scouting technique is more suited for High School and Little League coaches who have 80 kids to evaluate in 2 days. 4+ years of success compared to less than a quality start of mediocrity should be taken into consideration. Tweedle dee (La Russa) and tweedle dumb (Duncan) have given the excuse that Mark is not effective enough against lefties, yet Worrell had better numbers against lefties than righties, this year. It’s too bad he wasn’t born a Duncan or else he would have had a chance regardless of his numbers. I hope that Worrell is traded to a team with a better appreciation for performance rather than a team that overestimates burnt out veterans and swings from the d*cks of inflated prospects (Perez). Unfortunately, you have a GM who is afraid to make any moves, so I hope “Cardinals Nation” is content with their 6 mediocre middle infielders and reliance on pitchers who might one day contribute to the team.
I would wager that, Duncan or not, Chris’ half season in 2006 will be more meaningful than Worrell’s entire career. Duncan had decent minor league numbers but at one point he just couldn’t be ignored at the major-league level.
Matt,
Obviously it will be because Worrell will never get an opportunity with the Cardinals to be valuable. I don’t think I have ever seen a pitcher with those numbers who has been snubbed this badly unless he was being blocked by studs, which i wouldn’t classify Brad Thompson, Kelvin Jimenez, etc. Maybe Worrell [erik edit--content deleted, violates comment guidelines. Consider this a warning.]
Anthony-
He is not blocked by…..
McClellan (way better than Worrell)
Perez (way better upside than Worrell and probably way better right now)
Motte (way better than Worrell right now with one pitch)
Kinney (seems to be pretty darn good.. I was skeptical after 2006 but he looks way better than worrell too)
There are better RHP than Worrell right now. I don’t care, it says our options are pretty damb good if Worrell can’t get a look and I dont really care. He may turn out to be a gimmick specialist guy, but all the guys above have a TON more upside and should get more opportunities than Worrell….
By the way I think Duncan knows what to look for.. He has said many good things about Perez, Motte, Kinney, and McClellan. It’s obvious you hate him, but taking shots is not worth the time.
Kinney and Worrell are very similar pitchers. Worrell is certainly a better option than Jimenez who received significant time last season.
Plus, Worrell has a plus stick – did you see that HR he hit? :)
I agree that Worrell has been very overlooked with the Cardinals. Atleast give him a few months in the Big Leagues and if he still cant cut it…. so be it. But evaluating someone after such a short stint is not only unfair but absurd. I hope another team traded for him bc he is such a humble and talented young man.