Cardinals right-hander Drew VerHagen will soon be undergoing a surgical procedure on his hip, reports Derrick Goold of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch. VerHagen will not be able to return this season.
This hip issue has seemingly been bothering VerHagen all year. He first landed on the IL in April, with his injury being referred to as a “hip impingement.” He returned in May but landed on the IL again in June due to a shoulder impingement. He returned in July but was quickly put back on the shelf, this time with a hip impingement again. It seems that whatever rehab attempts were made didn’t succeed, with VerHagen having to now go under the knife.
The 31-year-old spent six seasons with the Tigers from 2014 to 2019, never really finding his footing, putting up a 5.11 ERA in that time. However, he had a nice breakout in Japan, pitching for the Hokkaido Nippon-Ham Fighters in 2020 and 2021. During that time, he threw 207 2/3 innings, registering a 3.51 ERA. Given that he’s always had ground ball tendencies, he seemed to be a good fit with the elite Cardinals defense. As such, the Redbirds signed him to a two-year deal worth $5.5MM, the first MLB contract signed after the lengthy lockout.
Unfortunately, the return to the majors hasn’t gone as planned so far, likely due to the lingering injuries. VerHagen has a 6.65 ERA on the year, logging 21 2/3 frames between IL stints. He’ll be on the shelf for the remainder of his campaign but hopefully recuperated in time for the second year of his contract. Jeff Jones of the Belleville News-Democrat relays word from manager Oli Marmol, who says that the club expects VerHagen to be ready for Spring Training.
Get well soon Vanderhagen.
Tough for VerHagen but opens up a 40 man spot.
Stratton will get a chance to prove himself.
Good riddance. Can’t figure out how he hasn’t been DFA’d yet
Well, he’s not gone so there’s that. And it probably has something to do with not wanting to just casually toss 4 million or so away.
Don’t spend it casually and you won’t have to throw it away later. The Cards were bidding against themselves for VerHagen and Dickerson.
Best of luck to him. Maybe it will help him fix his pitching. At this point it’s addition by subtraction until he can learn to pitch again. He’s had a bad year.
Addition by subtraction for the Cardinals bullpen
Never was crazy about that signing from the beginning.
None of the off-season pitching pickups have worked out. Maddux needs to move on
Maddux? You can’t get blood from a stone. He wasn’t given much to work with in terms of offseason acquisitions.
What did the Cardinals expect? I know they caught lightning in a bottle with Mikolas, but lightning doesn’t strike twice! Look at Verhagen’s body of work with the Tigers – lots of hits, walks, and homers, moderate Ks. What has he done with the Cards? Lots of hits, walks, and homers, moderate Ks.
Drew says “Thanks!” for setting him up almost for life with $3.5 mill. after tax (can produce $150k a year indefinitely).
Look at Mikolas’ body of work with the Rangers/Padres – lots of hits, walks, and homers, moderate Ks.
Because a guy gets injured, you’re suddenly Captain Hindsight? I hope he comes back healthy next year and proves some of the whiners here wrong.
He has been injured from the start of the season and tried to pitch through it. The Cards finally pulled the plug so he can get healthy for next year.
I’m one of those whiners, but I hope you’re right. I don’t really blame VerHagen as much as I blame Mo. He spent money on a lottery ticket instead of getting a proven commodity. VerHagen is a reasonable gamble on a 1 yr or minor league deal. There was no reason to give him a 2 yr ML contract. I hope he comes back healthy and productive, but I’m glad we don’t have to keep watching him try to pitch through it.
Whittgren is gone, now VerHagen, I think McFarland should probably go next. Maybe guys like Woodford, Thompson and Naile can stay up and be more productive than those guys have been. Our bullpen might be deeper than we thought.
VerHagen did (not very often) show SOME glimpses of why they signed him. Against the Dodgers, he made Betts and Trea Turner look silly with just filthy stuff. Had you thinking, “oh, NOW I see it”. Then, shat the bed.
At the end of his time with the Tigers, they were pairing him with, I believe, Fulmer coming off his injury. One pitched the first half of the game and the other pitched the back half. VerHagen was lights out during that stretch
Too bad. Another one of Mo’s gambles that didn’t pan out. Good luck to VerHagen in his recovery.
That hip problem seems to be a chronic issue as he keeps getting placed on the IL for it.
Shoot, every joint on my body has or is an “impingement”and if Mo will give me 2 million I bet I can give him a 10.00 era and save them money!
He’s had this issue all season? Just like Marcell Ozunas shoulder impingement? Lord have mercy who’s doing the home work here on free agent signings, and trades? We expect the best of someone better? Idk just playing hope he gets better