Wednesday afternoon, taking on the Cubs, Phillies starter Vance Worley worked eight innings while allowing just one run. And it wasn't one of them fluky mirage starts, either - Worley threw two-thirds of his pitches for strikes, and struck out seven dudes. He was legitimately terrific, and lowered his season ERA to 2.02.
Vance Worley Puts All His Strengths On Display
In a Wednesday start against the Cubs, Phillies righty Vance Worley flashed everything that’s allowed him to have so much surprising success.
Why is that season ERA relevant? Two reasons:
(1) It’s really good
(2) It’s the best on the team
Yes, those same Phillies who put together arguably the greatest starting rotation in baseball history currently have Vance Worley leading their starting rotation in ERA. And it isn't because the other guys have struggled. Roy Halladay, Cliff Lee, Cole Hamels - they've been amazing. Roy Oswalt was good while he was healthy. But, Worley. This fact is diminished only by the fact that Worley's ERA is right in between those of Johnny Cueto and Ryan Vogelsong.
So just what is it that’s allowed Worley - with whom few were familiar before the season - to pitch so well? Rather conveniently, all of Worley’s strengths can be seen in this minute-long Wednesday highlight package. So for those of you who’re curious, it’s all right there. And for those of you who’re curious but don’t feel like watching video, but are still okay with .gifs for some reason, I’ll run through each of them below.
(1) Pitches for Phillies
What we see here is clear proof that Vance Worley pitches for the Phillies. Pitching for the Phillies is a strength, because the Phillies are good, and, I dunno, the Astros are not, and good teams make players good and bad teams make players bad. Because Vance Worley plays for the Phillies, he is good.
(2) Hard tailing fastball
The neat thing about a near-center-field camera angle is that you get a better idea of pitch movement, and the tail on Worley’s 90+ mph fastball is easily seen. Tail is good for fastballs, because fastballs without tail are Scott Karl fastballs, and Scott Karl’s fastball was terrrrible.
(3) Sharp breaking ball
This is a slider that just kind of dies near the strike zone, and Worley likes to throw it a bunch, because it’s effective. You can see how much trouble it causes by watching the Cub in the clip.
Cub: I’m gonna hit you
Cub: /begins swing
Cub: Hold on!
Cub: That pitch died!
Cub: /stops swing
Cub: That pitch is dead!
Cub: I cannot hit a dead pitch!
(4) Effectively wild
Look where the catcher sets his glove. Then look where the pitch ends up. It’s hard for a batter to stand comfortably in the box when even the catcher doesn’t know where a pitch is going. Look at that swing. Completely unprepared!
(5) Dynamite reflexes
Worley has some of the fastest reflexes in the game, which is a strength of his because every so often it means instead of getting his face ripped off he gets to start a double play.
(6) Swagger
During an episode of What Not To Wear, one of the hosts remarked that a key to looking good in an outfit is looking confident in the outfit. If you look sure of yourself to others, they will, in turn, be sure of you. Worley takes that approach to the baseball field. Everything he does, he does with confidence, and batters respond to that confidence by assuming that Worley is really good. Which he is.
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