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

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.