The Pirates picked up Vance Worley from the Twins today in exchange for some cash. Worley was outrighted to the minors by the Twins a few days ago, and it's not hard to see why when you look at his 2013 numbers. It wasn't all that long ago that Worley was a semi-interested young pitcher for the Phillies and his velocity numbers don't seem to be terribly down, so I suppose it's possible the Pirates see something they think they can work with. It's awfully suspicious when a pitcher goes from Philly's hitter-friendly park to the Twins' ballpark recreation of Mammoth Caves in Minneapolis and sees his home run rate explode. In general, the conclusion would have to be either something got messed up with his mechanics or that he's hurt.
Either way, I don't have high expectations for Worley in 2014. The Pirates definitely need some pitching depth at this point, though, with question marks all over the place in both Pittsburgh and Indianapolis. Worley will provide at least that, and since the Pirates managed to turn Vin Mazzaro until a useful swingman last year, I suppose there's an outside chance he can provide them with a little bit more.
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