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

These Cardinals are at risk of losing their spots on the 40-man roster

The St. Louis Cardinals have one of the deepest teams in recent history. With many position battles during Spring Training, plenty of candidates are in jeopardy of losing their spot on the 40-man rotation, with the first causality being Freddy Pacheco earlier this week.

The 17 players representing various countries at the World Baseball Classic is a huge sign that the Cardinals are one of the deepest organizations and one of the most successful in all of baseball.

With the first round of cuts coming at Spring Training, the roster moves in the coming weeks will tell you a lot about where the Cardinals view certain players and what their futures may be in St. Louis.

Spring training is always important for players on the outside looking in at an opening-day roster spot, but with a team like St. Louis, spring performances weigh even more than a team with no postseason aspirations.

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.

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.