Draft and minor leagues Flores was impressed with how hard Worrell threw, and the Cardinals selected him in the first round of the
1982 Major League Baseball (MLB) draft. By his second professional season, he was already pitching for the
Louisville Redbirds of the
Triple-A American Association. Worrell had a 4–2 record in 14 starts for Louisville, but his ERA was 4.74 and he had almost as many walks (42) as strikeouts (46). "I'd throw great for three or four innings every start, then something would happen," Worrell said. After suffering another
blown save on September 8, he picked up his first
save on September 13 against the
Chicago Cubs, striking out four in innings and allowing only one run, a
home run to
Jody Davis, in a 9–3 victory. His ERA was 5.68 through September 8, but Worrell posted a 1.76 ERA thereafter, converting five saves in five opportunities through the end of the year as the Cardinals won the
National League (NL) East Division title. In 17 games (all in relief), he had a 3–0 record, a 2.91 ERA, 17 strikeouts, seven walks, and 17 hits allowed in innings. Relieving
Joaquin Andujar to begin the seventh inning of Game 6, with the score tied at four, Worrell threw a scoreless seventh inning, then gave up a home run to
Mike Marshall to start the eighth. He retired the next three hitters he faced, then got the win after
Jack Clark hit a three-run home run in the ninth, helping the Cardinals defeat the Dodgers 7–5 and win the series in six games. In Game 1 of the
World Series against the
Kansas City Royals, Worrell relieved
John Tudor with two outs in the seventh and runners on first and third. After walking
Lonnie Smith, Worrell got
Willie Wilson to pop out to end the inning. In the eighth, he nearly gave up a home run to
George Brett, but
Andy Van Slyke caught the ball at the fence, and Worrell earned the save as the Cardinals won 3–1. In Game 5, he struck out all six batters he faced, but the Cardinals lost the game 6–1. However, he joined
Hod Eller and
Moe Drabowsky as the only pitchers to strike out six hitters in a row in World Series play. Worrell relieved
Ken Dayley to start the ninth inning of Game 6, with the Cardinals leading 1–0 and three outs away from clinching a World Series title. The leadoff hitter for Kansas City,
Jorge Orta, hit a ground ball to the mound that first baseman Clark fielded, then threw to Worrell, who had covered first. The throw narrowly beat Orta to the base, but umpire
Don Denkinger mistakenly called him safe. Worrell went on to allow a couple more runners to reach base, then gave up a pinch-hit single to
Dane Iorg that won the game for the Royals by a score of 2–1. The Cardinals went on to lose the World Series in seven games.
1986 By 1986, Worrell was the Cardinals' "ace reliever," according to Mitch Lawrence of the
Dallas Morning News. On April 10, the St. Louis
closer relieved
Rick Ownbey with two runners on in the seventh inning of a game against the Cubs, with the Cardinals leading 3–1. Worrell allowed one of the runners to score but pitched three scoreless innings, earning the save as the Cardinals won 4–2. Against the
Philadelphia Phillies on June 21 and 22, he struck out four batters in and four batters in innings, respectively, earning the win in the first game and the save in the second. He entered another game against the Phillies on July 30 with one out in the seventh, the bases loaded, and the Cardinals only up by two runs. Worrell retired
Mike Schmidt and
Von Hayes on fly balls without any runs scoring, then threw two more scoreless innings for the save when the Cardinals won 6–3. Still considered a
rookie in 1986, Worrell's 2.08 ERA and league-leading 36 saves netted him that year's NL
Rookie of the Year Award, as well as the NL
Rolaids Relief Man Award. In 74 games, the third highest-total in the NL, Worrell had a 9–10 record and struck out 73 hitters in innings. Thereafter, he posted a 1.80 ERA in 18 more games through June 10, at which point he had 14 saves, a total only surpassed in the NL by
Steve Bedrosian's and
Lee Smith's 15. On September 19, he relieved
Joe Magrane in a game against the Cubs with one out in the seventh, the bases loaded, the Cardinals up 5–3, and
Ryne Sandberg at the plate. Worrell struck out Sandberg and
Andre Dawson to end the inning with no runs scoring, then threw two more scoreless innings for the save. In the second game of a
doubleheader against the
Montreal Expos on September 29, Worrell relieved
Greg Mathews with no outs in the seventh, runners on first and second, and the Cardinals up 3–0. He did not allow either of the runners to score and pitched three scoreless innings for the save. Worrell finished the year with 33 saves, becoming the first major league pitcher to have at least 30 saves in each of his first two full seasons. In 75 games, he had an 8–6 record, a 2.66 ERA, 92 strikeouts, 34 walks, and 86 hits allowed in innings pitched. Worrell gave up one run in the final three innings of Game 3, earning the save in a 6–5 Cardinal victory. In Game 6, Worrell relieved Tudor with one out in the eighth and the Cardinals leading 1–0. He got the last two outs of the inning and the first out of the ninth, then was replaced by Dayley because a left-hander was due up. Thinking he might want to use Worrell later on if right-handed hitters came up later, Cardinals manager
Whitey Herzog left Worrell in the game, moving him to right field. He spent the rest of the game there, as Dayley retired both of the hitters he faced. The Cardinals won the NLCS in seven games, earning a trip to the
1987 World Series, where they faced the
Minnesota Twins. In Game 7, Worrell entered in the sixth with the game tied at two, no outs, and runners on first and second. He retired two of the first three hitters he faced, but
Roy Smalley walked to load the bases.
Greg Gagne then hit a sharp ground ball and beat the throw to first base for an RBI single that gave the Twins the lead. That run was not charged to Worrell, but he did allow another run in the eighth as the Twins won 4–2, clinching a World Series championship for Minnesota.
1988 On April 27, 1988, Worrell relieved
Bob Forsch with one out in the seventh inning, runners on second and third base, and the Cardinals clinging to a 2–0 lead over the
San Diego Padres. He intentionally walked
John Kruk to load the bases, then gave up a
sacrifice fly to
Garry Templeton. However, he struck out
Tim Flannery to end the inning, then pitched two more scoreless innings for the save. Against the Braves on May 27, he pitched two scoreless innings to pick up the save in a 5–2 victory. He retired all six hitters he faced on June 8, earning the save in a 5–2 victory over the
New York Mets. At midseason, he was a part of the
All-Star Game for the first time in his career, throwing a scoreless ninth inning in the NL's 2–1 loss to the
American League. He pitched two scoreless innings to earn a save on September 8 in a 1–0 victory over the Phillies. Worrell finished the year with 32 saves in 41 opportunities; the 32 saves helped him rank third in the NL, behind
John Franco (39) and
Jim Gott (34). In 68 games, he had a 5–9 record, a 3.00 ERA, 78 strikeouts, 34 walks, and 69 hits allowed in 90 innings. On April 8, he threw a season-high scoreless innings in an eventual 5–4, 12-inning loss to the Phillies. He entered a game against the Expos on June 15 with one out in the ninth, runners on first and second, and the Cardinals trailing 3–2. Worrell finished the inning without allowing a run to score, then pitched a scoreless tenth, becoming the winner when
Tom Pagnozzi had an RBI single in the bottom of the tenth to give the Cardinals a 4–3 victory. Through July 14, his ERA was 1.14. On September 4, Worrell was pitching for his 127th career save, which would have tied him with
Bruce Sutter for the Cardinals' career record. Used 10 times in April, Worrell pitched 11 scoreless innings. He had back-to-back saves on September 5 and 6 in consecutive victories over the Giants. On September 24, he threw a scoreless ninth and tenth innings as well in an eventual 4–3, 14-inning win over the Mets. In 67 games, he had a 5–3 record, a 2.11 ERA, 64 strikeouts, 25 walks, and 45 hits allowed in 64 innings. Though he was not the closer (Smith again led the NL with 43 saves), Worrell had five saves as well. Worrell had 129 saves with the Cardinals, briefly the team record until Smith broke it in 1993. Returning on May 28, Worrell had a 14.40 ERA in five games through June 10 before going on the disabled list again, this time not returning until July 17. His ERA rose to 10.54 on August 5 before Worrell posted a 2.74 ERA over his next 20 games. Worrell made 35 appearances for the Dodgers in 1993, posting a 1–1 record, a 6.05 ERA, 31 strikeouts, 11 walks, and 46 hits allowed in innings pitched. A 1993 article by the
Los Angeles Daily News called him "perhaps the biggest free-agent bust in baseball this season." A disappointed Worrell said after the game, "I guess the only way I can respond is to say I've never been taken out of a game before as the stopper. The job of the stopper always has been you win or lose with him. At least, that's the way I've been handled in the past." On August 8, after pitching in three straight games, Worrell entered a game against the
Colorado Rockies in the ninth inning with the Dodgers leading 6–3. He allowed three runs before getting removed, and Gott allowed another one of his runners to score, giving him the loss as Colorado won 7–6. After the game, Worrell finally spoke to reporters again but was critical, saying, "If you knew anything about baseball, you wouldn’t have to hide behind players' quotes." The Dodger closer again, he had just four saves entering June but saved eight games that month, without blowing an opportunity. On July 23, against the
Florida Marlins, he entered the game with one out in the eighth, one runner on base, and the Dodgers leading 3–1. Worrell struck out
Jeff Conine but then walked the next two hitters to load the bases. However, he struck out
Tommy Gregg to end the inning, then allowed just one run in the ninth, preserving the lead as the Dodgers won 4–2. He threw a scoreless inning on September 25 to pick up the save in a 4–3 victory over Colorado. Worrell converted 32 saves in 36 opportunities, ranking fourth in the NL in saves. He saved five games from June 13 through June 19. In August, he had 10 saves, including saves in six straight appearances from August 22 through August 30. After blowing his ninth save of the year on September 1, he converted his remaining seven save opportunities that month as the Dodgers clinched a trip to the playoffs by winning the NL
Wild Card. Worrell finished the season with a career-high 44 saves, tied with
Jeff Brantley's total for the NL lead and a Dodger single-season record until
Eric Gagne had 52 in 2002. In 72 games, he had a 4–6 record, a 3.03 ERA, 66 strikeouts, 15 walks, and 70 hits allowed in innings pitched.
1997 In 1997, Worrell was frequently booed by Dodgers fans. Though he remained in the closer role all year, manager
Bill Russell started bypassing him in favor of
Darren Dreifort or
Scott Radinsky in September. One highlight for Worrell came on September 5, when he got his 126th save for the Dodgers, breaking
Jim Brewer's team record. However, he would only have one more save all season. Worrell had 35 saves but blew nine, topped only by the 11 blown by
Greg McMichael of the Mets. He retired following the 1997 season, with agent Rich Bry explaining the decision was because of a desire to spend more time with his family. His 127 saves with the Dodgers were the team's record for a few years, until
Jeff Shaw recorded his 128th with Los Angeles in 2001. ==Pitching style==