Cardinals Break the Seal, Sign Former Tiger Drew VerHagen

The primary post-lockout signing is now within the books, with the St. Louis Cardinals agreeing to a two-year deal with 6-foot-6 righty Drew VerHagen, a former Detroit Tiger who had spent the final two seasons in Japan with the Hokkaido Nippon-Ham Fighters.

The deal is price $2.5 million within the first yr and $3 million within the second, with as much as $1 million in efficiency bonuses in every season. VerHagen, 31, threw about 100 innings in every of his two seasons in Japan, and offers St. Louis one other arm able to making spot begins or offering size out of the bullpen, one thing the Cardinals wants since a lot of their 40-man roster is occupied by single-inning relievers and beginning prospects with sketchy command, like Angel Rondón and Johan Oviedo.

VerHagen posted a 3.50 ERA and 1.17 WHIP throughout his two seasons with the Fighters whereas exhibiting stuff and velocity much like what he confirmed throughout his six-season large league tenure with Detroit. His fastball averaged 94 mph in Japan and was as much as 99; he threw 24 pitches at 97 mph and above in 2021, per Synergy Sports activities. His low-80s slider was his secondary weapon of selection, and a crazy curveball and seldom-used changeup — he deployed it extra incessantly in NPB than MLB (5% vs. lower than 1%), however its use was nonetheless uncommon — spherical out VerHagen’s 4 pitch combine.

The Tigers tinkered with VerHagen’s supply whereas he was underneath their wing, and the type of pitching he confirmed later into his large league tenure continued abroad. Initially utilizing a cross-bodied, three-quarters supply, VerHagen’s place on the rubber moved toward first base, his stride route opened up a bit, and his arm slot raised all through his Tigers profession:

This continued in Japan, and although VerHagen’s fastball is technically a sinker, the newer arm slot helps him miss bats above the strike zone, whereas peppering that space with the fastball helps him arrange his sluggish curve. VerHagen’s slider sits within the 79-83 mph vary and has biting two-plane motion when he locates it to his glove aspect, which he does with middling consistency. If there’s a path for VerHagen to outperform expectations and truly seize maintain of a rotation spot sooner or later in the course of the yr, maybe it’ll come from the continued growth of his cut up/change.

Eric Longenhagen is from Catasauqua, PA and at present lives in Tempe, AZ. He spent 4 years working for the Phillies Triple-A affiliate, two with Baseball Information Options and two contributing to prospect protection at ESPN.com. Earlier work can be discovered at Sports activities On Earth, CrashburnAlley and Prospect Insider.