Jayson Werth

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**Jayson Werth**

Philadelphia Phillies — No. 28
Right fielder
Born: May 20, 1979 (1979-05-20) (age 29)
Bats: Right	Throws: Right
Major League Baseball debut
September 1, 2002 for the Toronto Blue Jays
Selected MLB statistics (through 2007)
Batting Average	.259
Home Runs	42
Runs Batted In	182
Teams
Toronto Blue Jays (2002-2003) Los Angeles Dodgers (2004-2005) Philadelphia Phillies (2007-present)

Jayson Richard Werth (born May 20, 1979 in Springfield, Illinois) is an outfielder in Major League Baseball who currently plays for the Philadelphia Phillies. He was mainly a bench player, but injuries to regular right fielder (now center fielder) Shane Victorino put Werth into the Phillies' starting lineup for most of August and September 2007, as well as during early 2008.

1 Background
2 Baseball career
3 See also
4 References
5 External links

[edit] Background

Werth comes from an athletic family, as the son of Jeffrey J. Gowan (who led all Division I wide receivers in receptions while playing football for Illinois State University in 1976, and played in the St. Louis Cardinals minor league affiliate, the Johnson City Cardinals in 1978) and Kim Schofield Werth, who competed in the U.S. Olympic Trials in the long jump and 100 meters. He is also the grandson of Ducky Schofield and nephew of Dick Schofield, both Major League Baseball infielders, and stepson of Dennis Werth, who played in parts of four seasons with the Kansas City Royals and New York Yankees from 1979-1982.

[edit] Baseball career

Werth's baseball talents blossomed at a young age. He teamed up with 3 other pitchers to combine for a no-hitter in a 56-1 victory en route to a 3rd place finish at Nationals. He first gained attention while attending Glenwood High School in Chatham, Illinois, where he compiled a .652 batting average in his senior year with 15 home runs in 31 games. He initially planned on playing college ball at the University of Georgia, but abandoned that plan when he was drafted in the first round by Major League Baseball's Baltimore Orioles on June 13, 1997. Prior to making his Major League debut, the Orioles traded Werth to the Toronto Blue Jays for pitcher John Bale. Werth broke into the major leagues with the Toronto Blue Jays in 2002. On March 29, 2004, Werth was then traded to the Los Angeles Dodgers for Jason Frasor after compiling two seasons in Toronto.

During Spring Training, on March 2 2005, Werth was hit by a pitch from A.J. Burnett that broke his left wrist. Despite the injury, Werth was able to play in a career-high 102 games in the 2005 season, hitting .234 with 7 home runs (compared to 16 the previous year, in fewer at-bats). Eight months later, Werth underwent exploratory surgery, which revealed two ligament tears that were repaired, however; his discomfort never subsided. . On May 21, 2006, Werth had cortisone injected into his wrist; the wrist was placed in a cast for three to four weeks. On June 28, Werth sufferd another wrist injury, but returned August 2 against the Chicago Cubs and went 3-for-6, with 4 RBI and 1 stolen base. These injury problems caused him to miss the entire 2006 season. On December 19, 2006, he signed a one-year, $850,000 deal with the Philadelphia Phillies.

Werth had a career-high 5 hits on Sunday, August 26, 2007 against the San Diego Padres, and extended his streak on Monday, August 27, 2007 against the New York Mets to nine hits in consecutive plate appearances, topping Pete Rose's mark of 8-for-8 during the 1979 season.^[1]

In 2008, Werth began the season platooning with Geoff Jenkins in right field, but soon found himself playing every day in the early part of the season while regular center fielder Shane Victorino was on the disabled list. On 16 May, Jayson had a career night against the Toronto Blue Jays. He hit 3 home runs in one game, including a grand slam, a three-run home run, and a solo shot which put him one round-tripper short of hitting for the "homer cycle"." He also tied the Phillies team record with 8 RBIs in one game.^[2]