Progeny of Pagnozzi

The St. Louis Cardinals selected right-handed pitcher Mark Worrell in the 12th round (360th overall) of the June 2004 entry draft out of Florida International University.

Worrell was the last U.S. high school pitcher to defeat Cuba in international play. He was drafted by the Tampa Bay Devil Rays in the 11th round (319th overall) of the June 2001 entry draft but failed to sign and enrolled in a junior college.

In 2002 Worrell pitched at Indian River (Florida) community College. He had 77 punch-outs in 77 innings. He was named the number one overall junior college pitcher in the country by Baseball America.

Worrell spent the 2003 season pitching for the University of Arizona as he made 17 appearances, including one start. In 25.1 innings of work he struck out 23 batters (walked 13) and posted a 2-4 record. He posted a 6.75 ERA and a 1.74 WHIP.

In 2004 for FIU he made 19 appearances on the mound (12 starts) as he posted a 4.25 ERA and 2-9 record. Worrell surrendered 86 hits and five home runs in 84.2 innings of work. He struck out 107 batters and walked 43. Opponents hit him to the tune of a .268 batting average.


He spent his first professional season between Rookie League Johnson City and Low-A Peoria. At Johnson City he made 17 appearances posting a 1.21 ERA, 0.85 WHIP, 1-0 record, fanning 35 (14.10 K/9) while allowing seven free passes. He surrendered 12 hits (4.84 H/9) and three runs (all earned) in 22 innings of work. Opponents batted .152 off of him.

After being promoted to Low-A Peoria he posted an 0-2 record with a 4.29 ERA (1.02 WHIP) in 12 games. Worrell allowed nine hits and ten runs (seven earned) in 15 innings. He struck out 20 (12.27 K/9) while walking six. He was touched for a .170 batting average while pitching for Peoria.

Worrell paced the minor leagues with 35 saves in 2005 as he helped propel High-A Palm Beach to the Florida State League championship. His save total more than doubled the previous franchise record, he also added three more saves in the playoffs.

Mark appeared in 53 games for Palm Beach logging 56 innings. He surrendered 38 hits, 20 runs (14 earned), six homers and 19 bases on balls. Opponents were held to a .191 batting average against him as he posted a 2.25 earned run average (1.02 WHIP) with 53 strikeouts (2-3 record).

Worrell was named the 2005 Rolaids Relief Man award given to the top relief pitcher in the minors. Was also named the Cardinals pitcher of the year for the 2005 season.

He pitched in the Mexican Pacific League this summer for Mazatlan (where fellow St. Louis prospect Chris Duncan was his teammate), allowing one run over 11.2 innings (13 appearances), good for a 0.77 ERA. He struck out ten and allowed only a single walk. Mark posted a 3.86 ERA during the Mexican League’s post season.

Worrell has a very unorthodox delivery. He never throws from a windup, has next to nothing of a leg kick and keeps his upper body back until the moment his arm forces it to open towards the plate. He also slings the ball from a variety of sidearm angles and veers towards first base upon initial release.

His mechanics have been questioned by many scouts throughout the game, pushing him down and even off of more than one teams’ draft board.

Despite the concerns over his delivery and mechanics Worrell has been very durable as a relief pitcher. He is very deceivable towards batters as they never quite know what to expect. It also puts very little stress on his arm, which is why the Cardinals have not attempted to alter him thus far.

He has thrown in the low-90’s since high school. His fastball normally sits between 90- and 93-mph, it is more of a sidearm version versus righties and conventional two-seamer against lefties.

Worrell definitely has the makeup to be a closer and has been money in pressure situations throughout his two professional seasons. His command still needs to be harnessed and that will be the area of concentration as he opens 2006 as the closer for Double-A Springfield.