Phillies: Vance Worley Attempting MLB Comeback with Mets

The ‘Vanimal,’ former Phillies RHP Vance Worley, is back with the Mets.

A former Philadelphia Phillies fan-favorite from the 2010-11 postseason window is attempting a Major League Baseball comeback. On Wednesday, the New York Mets purchased the contract of right-handed pitcher Vance Worley from the independent Kane County Cougars.

Worley will report to Triple-A Syracuse. The 33-year-old will now pitch professionally for the first time since he appeared in four games with the Mets’ Triple-A affiliate three years ago.

Through eight big-league seasons (2010-17), the right-hander posted a 35-36 record, 4.09 ERA, 497-220 strikeout-to-walk ratio, and 1.433 WHIP spanning 163 games, and 97 starts.

As a Phillie from 2010-12, Worley went 18-13 with a 3.50 ERA. His three-season Phillies tenure came to an end when he was dealt to the Minnesota Twins — along with then-pitching prospect and current-Met Trevor May — in exchange for outfielder Ben Revere. Worley went on to pitch in 10 starts for the Twins in 2013, before appearing for the Pittsburgh Pirates (2014-15), Baltimore Orioles (2016), and Miami Marlins (2017).

Last August, there was speculation that a Phillies reunion with Worley could have been a possibility. A viral tweet from former Reading Phils bullpen catcher Scot Teller showed Worley throwing 98 miles per hour on the radar gun at a San Diego, California-based facility.

Days later, Worley posted a picture of him donning his iconic goggles at the Philadelphia airport with the caption, “Yooooooo.” Ultimately, a Phillies-Worley reunion eight years since he last pitched in red pinstripes — August 28, 2012 — was not in the cards.

Worley and May are not the only former Phillies players and/or prospects who are now members of the Mets organization. Others include Carlos Carrasco (who the Phillies dealt to the Cleveland Indians as part of the Cliff Lee trade) as well as Jerad Eickhoff — one of the returns from the July 2015 Cole Hamels trade with the Texas Rangers.