3 Cardinals players who could lose their 40-man roster spots

1. Jake Walsh

Jake Walsh has just three major league appearances in his career, and they all came last season as a member of the St. Louis Cardinals. In 2.2 innings of work, he has allowed three hits and four earned runs.

He was a 16th-round pick by the Cardinals in 2017 out of Florida Southern College, an NCAA DII school in Florida. He spent the majority of the 2022 season at AAA Memphis, where he notched a 1.17 ERA.

Walsh was one of the first spring training invitees that were assigned to minor league camp and could be in danger of losing out on his 40-man roster spot. He saw action in three spring training games this year, allowing two earned runs and a home run in 2.1 innings.

Walsh could fall victim to some electric young arms climbing through the Cardinals' minor league ranks. With Tink Hence, Gordon Graceffo, and Michael McGreevy all pushing toward the majors, the 27-year-old could lose out on a high-profile spot on the 40-man roster.

2. Jose Fermin

Jose Fermin, along with Walsh, was assigned to minor league camp by the Cardinals on Saturday. Fermin is in a tough position, with Maysn Winn putting on a show in spring training, Fermin could be on his way off the 40-man roster sooner than later.

The 23-year-old has spent the last six seasons in the Cleveland Guardians organization, making it all the way to AAA last season, where he hit .215 with six home runs and 31 RBIs.

Fermin was signed as infield depth for the Cardinals with questions about Paul DeJong's ability to bounce back. Since he is currently on the 40-man, he is on the shortlist to be called up if something happens to one of the Cardinals' infielders.

The emergence of Winn puts Fermin's spot in question. St. Louis had no concerns about Winn's ability to field the shortstop position or his athleticism or arm strength. Their questions lay with his ability to hit, which is something Winn has done a lot of this season.

If we see Maysn Winn in the majors this season, the Cardinals will likely have to make a roster move. The most realistic scenario is removing a middle infielder from the 40-man roster in exchange for another. Leaving Fermin on the chopping block.

3. Drew VerHagen

One of the marquee signings of the 2022 offseason, Drew VerHagen, had a lackluster start to his Cardinals career. He was injured for just about all of last season as he only appeared in 19 games for St. Louis.

Signed as a starting pitcher, he failed to make a start for the Cardinals last year. He amassed a 3-1 record a year ago, recording 21.2 innings and a 6.65 ERA. He has a 13-11 record and a 5.26 ERA through his seven seasons in the majors.

Similar to Walsh's situation, there are just too many young pitchers in the Cardinals' organization for VerHagen to stick around if one of the prospects starts knocking at the door of Busch Stadium.

He was decent pitching for the Nippon Ham Fighters in Japan, posting a 13-14 record with a 3.51 ERA over two seasons. He had good strikeout numbers, posting 215 punchouts in 207.2 innings of work.

If he can't prove in spring training that he belongs in St. Louis, the 32-year-old righty will find himself in the minors sooner than later. The good news for the VerHagen supporters is, he has fared well in his two games this spring. He has two innings of no-hit baseball under his belt, with a walk and two strikeouts.