Mark Worrell

Pitcher Mark Worrell, who was known for his funky sidewinder delivery, will forever be linked to two home runs – one he hit and the other he gave up. In his second major-league game, on June 5, 2008, Worrell blasted a three-run homer in his first career at-bat. Three years later, in his final game in the big leagues, on July 24, 2011, he gave up the first career round-tripper hit by future perennial All-Star Mike Trout.1

The right-hander, whose major-league career consisted of eight games, described his pitching mechanics as “unorthodox.” In a St. Louis Post-Dispatch story on June 3, 2008, writer Derrick Goold said: “As Worrell begins his delivery, he bends over and then springs up to throw sidearm while stepping almost toward first base.”2

Mark Robert Worrell Jr. was born on March 8, 1983, in Palm Beach Gardens, Florida, the son of Nancy Worrell. Later a sister, Jennifer, was born. He is not related to fellow major-league pitchers Todd Worrell (1985-97) and Tim Worrell (1993-2006).

Worrell attended the Benjamin School in Palm Beach Gardens as a high-school freshman, winning five games. He then moved to John I. Leonard High School in Lake Worth, Florida, earning three letters from 1999 to 2001.3 He posted a 10-2 record as a sophomore and was named second team All-State. Worrell went 6-2 and 8-3 as a junior and senior respectively, being voted team captain and earning first-team All-State honors both seasons. He made 11 starts as a senior, authoring eight shutouts with a 0.26 ERA and averaging 1.76 strikeouts per inning with a nearly 7-to-1 strikeouts-to-walks ratio.4

In Worrell’s senior year, Leonard High was eliminated from the state tournament in a regional playoff game, 1-0 in eight innings, by Douglas High School. Worrell struck out a batter for what would have been the third out in the bottom of the eighth, but a passed ball allowed the only run to score.

Worrell, who also batted .341, was named the 2001 Palm Beach County Player of the Year and the South Florida Sun-Sentinel (the primary daily newspaper of Fort Lauderdale and Broward County) Big School Player of the Year.

Major-league scouts were impressed with Worrell’s velocity, which was regularly clocked in the 93-94-mph range and topped out at 97 mph.5 The Los Angeles Dodgers were reportedly set to select him in the third round of the 2001 draft, but Worrell didn’t like the Dodgers’ offer of a $500,000 signing bonus.6 The Tampa Bay Devil Rays selected Worrell in the 11th round, but he opted to forgo a professional career and attend college.

Worrell’s high-school coach, Tom Evans, offered this scouting report: “He is very competitive. He is like a bulldog going after a wild pig or something. He doesn’t let up. When he is focused and goes after it, he gets it. You have to get him early in the game. Once he establishes tempo, it’s rough to knock him out. His future is in his hands.”7

After graduating from high school, Worrell pitched for the 2001 USA Baseball 18U National Team that played in the COPABE Pan American Junior Championships in Cuba. He pitched six innings, not allowing a hit and recording 13 strikeouts. His teammates included 11 future major leaguers: Matt Chico, Jeff Francoeur, Scott Kazmir, Mike Nickeas, Clint Sammons, Sergio Santos, Zack Segovia, Jeremy Sowers, Denard Span, Huston Street, and B.J. Upton. The United States squad went 9-2, with both losses to Cuba, including 3-2 in the gold-medal game.

Worrell signed a national letter of intent with the University of Florida but never matriculated to Gainesville. Over the next three academic years, he attended three colleges:

• 2001-02: Indian River Community College in Fort Pierce, Florida. Ranked the number-one preseason junior-college pitcher in the country by Baseball America, Worrell was a team co-captain and went 4-6 in 14 starts with 77 strikeouts in 77 innings.
• 2002-03: University of Arizona. Worrell appeared in 17 games, all but one in relief, posting a 2-4 record with a 6.75 ERA.
• 2003-04: Florida International University. His record was 2-9, and he topped the team with a 4.25 ERA and 107 strikeouts (11.4 per nine innings).

On June 7, 2004, the St. Louis Cardinals selected Worrell in the 12th round (360th overall pick) of the amateur draft. The 21-year-old subsequently embarked on his professional career with the Johnson City (Tennessee) Cardinals in the rookie-level Appalachian League before being promoted to the Peoria (Illinois) Chiefs of the Class-A Midwest League. He pitched in 29 games combined – all in relief – allowing just 21 hits in 37 innings while striking out 55 batters (13.4 per nine innings) and recording 13 saves.

The 2005 season was a homecoming for Worrell, as he pitched for the Palm Beach Cardinals in the advanced Class-A Florida State League, some 12 miles from his birthplace. In a June 5 article in the Palm Beach Post, Worrell said: “I probably have three or four friends a night come, and then my family comes to every game or every other game, so I’m pretty much responsible for the whole crowd every night. Maybe I should get a cut of the attendance.”8

Worrell enjoyed a tremendous season in 2005. He was chosen for the Florida State League All-Star Game en route to being named the St. Louis Cardinals’ Minor League Pitcher of the Year. He also earned the Minor League Baseball Rolaids Relief Man Award after leading all minor leaguers with 35 saves.9 He amassed 53 strikeouts in 56 innings (8.5 per nine innings), to go with a 2-3 record and 2.25 ERA while holding opponents to a .191 batting average. Nine of his saves came in consecutive appearances between May 16 and June 2. The Cardinals won the Florida State League playoffs over the Detroit Tigers’ affiliate in Lakeland, and Worrell earned three saves in the series. He was the winning pitcher in the decisive fifth game.

Worrell spent the offseason in Mexico, where he was 11-for-11 in save opportunities.

Kary Booher of the Springfield (Missouri) News-Leader interviewed Worrell about his unorthodox delivery in March 2006. “It’s always felt natural to me,” Worrell said. “Everybody always asks me about the delivery, but I know it’s good to be different. I guess I’m just blessed in a sense.”10

Cardinals pitching coordinator Mark Riggins said: “There are so many things that look awkward. But physically he’s had no problems, so we’re just letting him ride with it.”11

As a starting pitcher, Worrell would drop down from the side only with two strikes on right-handed batters. It was when he became a reliever that he went to the side-arm delivery full-time.

“As I became a reliever, it was a little easier for me to adapt with the lower arm angle and recover quicker. I was having success, so I just stuck with it,” Worrell said in 2018.12

In 2006 Worrell continued his ascent through the minors with the Springfield (Missouri) Cardinals of the Double-A Texas League. Armed with a fastball and slider, he was selected to the All-Star Game and led the league with 27 saves while striking out 75 batters in 61⅔ innings (10.9 per nine innings). He posted a 3-7 record and 4.52 ERA. Worrell was named the Cardinals’ Minor League Pitcher of the Month for July after recording a 0.51 ERA (one earned run in 17⅔ innings), with six saves and 22 strikeouts over 13 appearances.

However, on the heels of a rough month of August (12.54 ERA), questions arose about whether skilled batters could adjust to Worrell’s Tasmanian Devilish delivery the more they faced him.

“The delivery gets the A-ball hitter out with its deception,” Riggins said. “In Double-A, the hitters are more experienced. The hitters aren’t going to be scared of that delivery. It is tough to see the ball coming out of it, but he still has to locate.”13

Nonetheless, Worrell moved up to Triple-A with the Memphis (Tennessee) Redbirds of the Pacific Coast League in 2007, where he went 3-2 with four saves and a 3.09 ERA in 50 games. In 67 innings he allowed 58 hits while striking out 66 batters (8.9 per nine innings). He had another exceptional month of July with a 0.68 ERA (one earned run in 13⅓ innings).

Back with Memphis in 2008, Worrell posted a 1.88 ERA in 21 games – with 38 strikeouts in 24 innings (14.3 per nine innings) – before being called up to the Cardinals on June 2. He made his major-league debut the next night against the Washington Nationals, pitching a scoreless bottom of the ninth inning to close out a 6-1 St. Louis victory.

“It’s something you work for your whole life, one of the coolest experiences of my life,” Worrell said of his debut. “It was an honor to pitch in the big leagues and something I’ll always remember the rest of my life.”14

Two days later, Worrell entered the second game of a day-night doubleheader at Nationals Park in the fifth inning, with the Cardinals trailing 8-3. He relieved rookie starter Mike Parisi, who like Worrell was drafted in 2004.15

Worrell pitched a scoreless fifth inning and then batted in the sixth with two runners on and two outs. On a 3-and-2 fastball from Nationals right-hander Tim Redding, Worrell crushed a three-run home run over the left-field wall to narrow the score to 8-6.

Worrell became the eighth player in Cardinals history to hit a homer in his first at-bat, and the sixth to do so since 2000. The previous ones were pinch-hitter Eddie Morgan (April 14, 1936); center fielder Wally Moon (April 13, 1954); pinch-hitter Keith McDonald (July 4, 2000); left fielder Chris Richard (July 17, 2000); pitcher Gene Stechschulte (April 17, 2001); second baseman Hector Luna (April 8, 2004); and pitcher Adam Wainwright (May 24, 2006).16 Worrell joined Wainwright in accomplishing the feat as a reliever.

“I was always a good hitter growing up,” said Worrell, who had two previous professional at-bats with Memphis in 2007, going 1-for-2 with a double. “I wish I could have got more at-bats, but it’s really cool that it happened, and I was really proud of it. It was awesome; that’s something you always dream about. I was really, really excited.”17

The Nationals loaded the bases against Worrell in the bottom of the sixth, but he escaped unscathed. In his two scoreless frames, he allowed two hits and two walks.18

Worrell appeared in two more games for the Cardinals, allowing five runs in 2⅔ innings. He was the losing pitcher against the Cincinnati Reds on June 12 and was sent back to Memphis two days later. In his four games with the Cardinals, he had a 7.94 ERA (five earned runs in 5⅔ innings).

Worrell spent the rest of the season with Memphis. He did not get recalled by the Cardinals when rosters were expanded in September, despite finishing the year with a 2.15 ERA and 80 strikeouts in 58⅔ innings (12.3 per nine innings) over 53 games. His five saves for Memphis ranked fourth on the team behind Kelvin Jiménez (12 saves), Chris Perez (11), and Jason Motte (9) – all future major leaguers.

On December 3, 2008, the Cardinals traded Worrell and a player to be named later to the San Diego Padres for shortstop Khalil Greene.19 Worrell was irritated at being overlooked for a September call-up and said, “I really can’t control what those guys do with me. I feel like I have done a great job but obviously the Cardinals don’t really respect me. So unless they are going to do a 100 percent change and give me a chance, then I am ready to try somewhere else that will appreciate a guy that puts up good numbers and works hard on and off the field.”20

Expected to have the opportunity to compete for a bullpen spot with the Padres in 2009, Worrell instead missed the entire season after undergoing surgery in March to repair the ulnar collateral ligament in his right elbow. He became a free agent in December and signed a minor-league contract with the Padres in February 2010.

Worrell began the 2010 season with the Padres’ Triple-A farm team, the Portland (Oregon) Beavers of the Pacific Coast League. He appeared in 25 games, allowing 20 earned runs in 33 innings (5.45 ERA), while striking out 34 batters and posting a 1-4 record. Worrell was released on June 23 and signed with the Seattle Mariners on July 5. After pitching just four innings over four appearances for the Triple-A Tacoma (Washington) Rainiers, he was released on July 14.

On February 1, 2011, Worrell signed as a free agent with the Baltimore Orioles. Pitching for the Triple-A Norfolk (Virginia) Tides, he was selected to the International League All-Star team and was subsequently called up by the Orioles on July 18. At the time of his recall, he had 12 saves for the Tides, with a 2.95 ERA and 30 strikeouts in 36⅔ innings.

The same day Worrell joined the Orioles, Baltimore’s closer Kevin Gregg began a three-game suspension for a July 8 skirmish with David Ortiz of the Boston Red Sox – creating an opening in the bullpen. In the game that night against Boston at Oriole Park at Camden Yards, the Orioles and Red Sox were tied, 7-7, through seven innings. Worrell entered in the top of the eighth with the bases loaded and one out, becoming the 900th player to take the field in an Orioles uniform. He gave up a two-run double to Dustin Pedroia, walked Adrián González intentionally, and allowed a two-run single to Kevin Youkilis before being removed.21

“It’s a rough spot, but it’s spots [like that] I want to be in, and I feel like I need to succeed in that,” Worrell said. “I wouldn’t have it any other way. I need to pitch my way out of that.

“All I want to do is do my part and help us win ballgames. I didn’t do my part today, and it [stinks].”22

Worrell’s next two major-league appearances were superior. Called upon with the bases loaded and no outs against Boston on July 20, Worrell struck out Marco Scutaro and Jason Varitek and retired Yamaico Navarro on a fly out to center field. Two days later, he fanned the only batter he faced, Mark Trumbo of the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim.

“The other day left a bad taste in my mouth,” Worrell said about his Juy 20  outing. “This is what I’m capable of, and I’m ready to go forward from here.”23

Columnist Kevin Cowherd of the Baltimore Sun wrote about Worrell on July 21: “The high point for me [of the previous day’s 4-0 Baltimore loss to Boston] was seeing new Orioles reliever Mark Worrell pitch in person for the first time.

“… Have you seen this guy’s delivery yet? I’m not quite sure how to describe it.

“OK, let’s try this: it’s sidearm; it’s herky-jerky and then he tumbles off the mound with all the grace of a drunk falling off a stage.”

“The guy must drink a pot of coffee in the bullpen before he comes into games, too. He appears to be super-wired and after every pitch, he stomps four or five feet toward the plate to get the catcher’s throw before stomping back to the rubber.”24

On July 24 the Orioles, who were last in the American League East Division with a 40-57 record (20½ games behind the pace-setting Red Sox), trailed the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim, 3-2, through seven innings at Camden Yards. Worrell entered the game to begin the eighth. He allowed two singles and then after recording an out, surrendered the 19-year-old Mike Trout’s first major-league homer – a three-run shot to deep left-center field. One out later, Worrell walked a batter and gave up a two-run homer to Torii Hunter and was replaced.

“Should have been a pretty good spot for [Worrell], but it didn’t work out,” Orioles manager Buck Showalter said.25

Saddled with a 36.00 ERA – after having allowed eight runs on six hits, including two homers, and two walks in two innings spanning four appearances – Worrell was optioned to Norfolk. He would not pitch in the majors again. With Norfolk for the remainder of the season, Worrell pitched in 17 games, earning nine saves with a 4.50 ERA. He was unscored upon in his last 10 appearances.26 Worrell was granted free agency in November and went on to pitch in five games for the Águilas Cibaeñas of the Dominican Winter League. He pitched professionally for the final time in 2013, appearing in two games in the Mexican League.

For his minor-league career, Worrell recorded 105 saves and a 3.31 ERA, with 399 strikeouts in 370 innings (9.7 per nine innings). His limited major-league experience yielded a 15.26 ERA (13 earned runs in 7⅔ innings).

“This game can humble you very quickly,” Worrell said in 2018.27

After his playing career, Worrell earned a bachelor of education degree in 2012 and an MBA two years later, both from Florida International University. He went on to earn a PhD in health and physical education/fitness from the University of Texas in 2017. The title of his dissertation was “Former Major League Baseball (MLB) Players and Athletic Identity.” In 2024 Worrell was pursuing a doctorate in health-care administration from Oklahoma State University.

From 2014 to 2017, Worrell was a teacher and coordinator for ACE Academy, a private, independent school for gifted students in Austin, Texas, and then worked for Major League Baseball as director of student-athlete education for a year before serving as a minor-league pitching coach and coordinator for the Toronto Blue Jays for two years. He subsequently worked for Amazon as a recruiter (2020-22) and for Cross Country Healthcare as director of premier accounts (2022-24). In February 2024 Worrell joined Locums Choice as director of national accounts. Locums Choice is a health-care staffing agency that specializes in matching physicians and advanced practice providers with health-care organizations to fill critical staffing gaps and deliver high quality patient care.

Sources

In addition to the sources cited in the Notes, the author consulted the Baseball-Reference.com and Retrosheet.org websites for pertinent material.

Photo credit: Mark Worrell, courtesy of the St. Louis Cardinals.

Notes

1 Through the 2024 season, Trout was a three-time American League Most Valuable Player and 11-time All-Star with 378 career home runs.

2 Derrick Goold, “Cards Notes,” St. Louis Post-Dispatch, June 3, 2008: D5.

3 Worrell also played basketball for one year at Leonard High School as a point guard.

4 In two of the three games Worrell lost as a senior, his team was shut out.

5 Dave Heeren, “Future in His Hands,” South Florida Sun Sentinel (Fort Lauderdale), June 8, 2001: 13C.

6 Dave Heeren, “Money Wasn’t Right for Wellington’s Worrell,” South Florida Sun Sentinel, June 7, 2001: 5C.

7 “Future in His Hands.”

8 Jim Oberdier, “Worrell Right at Home with Palm Beach,” Palm Beach Post, June 10, 2005: 4C.

9 Worrell’s saves total was one shy of the Cardinals’ minor-league record and three shy of the Florida State League record.

10 Kary Booher, “‘It’s Good to Be Different,’” Springfield (Missouri) News-Leader, March 31, 2006: 1D.

11 “‘It’s Good to Be Different.’”

12 Eli Fishman interview with Worrell: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BueV_SMhoZA.

13 Derrick Goold, “2 Potential Closers; 2 Very Different Delivery Men,” St. Louis Post-Dispatch, September 1, 2006: D2.

14 Eli Fishman interview.

15 Parisi was selected in the ninth round and made his major-league debut on May 5, 2008.

16 After Worrell and through the 2024 season, two more Cardinals have homered in their first major-league at-bat – Paul DeJong (May 28, 2017) and Lane Thomas (April 19, 2019), both as pinch-hitters.

17 Eli Fishman interview.

18 The Cardinals wound up losing the game, 10-9, in 10 innings.

19 The Cardinals sent minor-league pitcher Luke Gregerson to the Padres on March 23, 2009, to complete the trade.

20 Joe Strauss, “Cards Trade for Greene,” St. Louis Post-Dispatch, December 5, 2008: D1.

21 The Orioles went on to lose the game, 15-10.

22 Jeff Zrebiec, “’Pen Is Punished,” Baltimore Sun, July 19, 2011: D1.

23 Dan Connolly, “Arrieta’s Effort Goes to Waste,” Baltimore Sun, July 21, 2011: D1.

24 Kevin Cowherd, “In AL East, O’s in Beleaguered State of Their Own,” Baltimore Sun, July 21, 2011: D1.

25 Jeff Zrebiec, “Another Good Start by Guthrie Squandered,” Baltimore Sun, July 25, 2011: D1.

26 Overall with Norfolk in 2011, Worrell was 1-6 with 21 saves and a 3.42 ERA. He allowed 44 hits and struck out 36 batters in 52⅔ innings.

27 Eli Fishman interview.