Somerset Patriots Land Eight-Year Major Leaguer Vance Worley

Bridgewater, NJ- The Somerset Patriots have announced the signing of eight-year Major League veteran right-handed pitcher Vance Worley for the 2020 season.

Vance Worley (Photo courtesy of Somerset Patriots)

“I’m very excited to get back into baseball and back on the field,” said Worley. “I’ve heard very good things about Somerset. I’ve heard it is a good place to be with good fans and a sense that everyone is family.”

Worley enters his first season with the Somerset Patriots and first in the Atlantic League. The right-handed pitcher has eight years of service in the Major Leagues, including time with the Philadelphia Phillies, Minnesota Twins, Pittsburgh Pirates, Baltimore Orioles and Miami Marlins. Worley broke into the “Bigs” 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% of the vote, trailing only Craig Kimbrel and Freddie Freeman.

The Sacramento, California native spent time in the Majors from 2010 to 2017, including a strong 2014 campaign with the Pittsburgh Pirates. That year, Worley went 8-4 and posted a career-best 2.85 ERA over 18 games (17 starts). He went on to post a 4.02 ERA over 23 games (eight starts) with the Pirates 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 totaled 35 wins with a 4.09 ERA, two saves and 497 strikeouts across 667.0 innings of work through his eight seasons in Major League Baseball.

Nicknamed the “Vanimal,” Worley was a third-round draft pick of the Phillies in the 2008 MLB draft. He spent the first five years of his professional career in the Phillies organization. There, he was twice named an Eastern League Mid-Season All-Star (2009, 2010) with Double-A Reading. Worley was later traded in 2012 to the Minnesota Twins for outfielder Ben Revere.

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.

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About the Atlantic League of Professional Baseball (ALPB)

With eight teams in the Mid-Atlantic and Texas, the ALPB is a leader in baseball innovation and a player gateway to Major League Baseball. Through its exclusive partnership with MLB, the Atlantic League tests Major League Baseball rules and equipment initiatives. The Atlantic League has sent more than 950 players to MLB organizations while drawing more than 42 million fans to its affordable, family-friendly ballparks throughout its 23-year history. For more information, please visit www.AtlanticLeague.com.