Outfielder bloomed late after a wrist injury left career in some doubt
There was a time Jayson Werth began to doubt where his career was heading. A serious wrist injury in 2005 eventually led to a surgery that only worsened his condition. He was 27 years old and had yet to live up to the promise of a first-round draft pick in 1997.
In the end, things have worked out beautifully for Werth. He parlayed three fine seasons with the Philadelphia Phillies into a massive seven-year, $126 million contract with the Nationals, who introduced their new right fielder at a news conference Wednesday at Nationals Park.
Werth, all smiles on the podium, admitted he was thankful to be in position to test the free agent market at all. After a promising 2004 season with the Los Angeles Dodgers — where Nats manager Jim Riggleman was one of his coaches — Werth was hit on the wrist by a pitch during the next spring training.
| The Werth file |
| » Nats outfielder Jayson Werth hit .296 last season with 27 home runs, 85 RBI and a National League-leading 46 doubles. |
| » Werth is on his fourth major league team. He also played for the Dodgers, Blue Jays and Orioles but never made it to the big leagues while with Baltimore. |
| » With a .921 OPS, Werth finished 10th overall in MLB last season in that category. That ranked ahead of both Nats 3B Ryan Zimmerman (.899) and former 1B Adam Dunn (.892). |
His injury wasn’t a common bruise or broken bone or conventional ligament tear. Instead, Werth had suffered a split tear of the ulnotriquetral ligament, a relatively common injury that is often misdiagnosed. The wrist pain led to a subpar year with Los Angeles and then a botched surgery that failed to ease his symptoms and kept him off the field the entire next season.
Werth finally met with Dr. Richard Berger of the Mayo Clinic in August 2006. He missed that entire season, and at 27, that initial promise — Werth was drafted 22nd overall in 1997 — had faded.
“There was a point in the summer of ’06 I was at home waiting to go to the Mayo Clinic to see Dr. Berger,” Werth said. “I was probably in a six-week timeframe where I was just waiting again to see this doctor. I already had one surgery that actually made things worse. So there were some doubts. But in the back of my mind I felt like things were going to work out. I was still positive, but definitely some moments where it was hard to get past what was going on.”
The surgery proved successful, and Werth had a good season in limited at-bats with the Phillies in 2007. But few foresaw his explosion the last three seasons with a combined 87 home runs and 88 doubles. Werth made the All-Star Game in 2009 and was an integral part of three National League East championships and a World Series title in 2008.
“I know the skill set that [Werth] has. I know the production that he’s given in the past,” Nats GM Mike Rizzo said. “And that’s all we’re expecting. We’re not expecting him to do any more than he’s ever done. He’s going to be a vital part of our lineup on the field. We’ll maybe ask a little bit more of him off the field and in the clubhouse in a leadership role.”
