ST. LOUIS — The St. Louis Cardinals placed right-hander Drew VerHagen on the 15-day injured list because of a right hip impingement and recalled left-hander JoJo Romero from Triple-A Memphis on Sunday before the Cardinals’ game against the New York Yankees.
VerHagen, 32, is 4-0 with a 4.78 ERA in a team-leading 35 appearances for St. Louis this season.
VerHagen allowed three runs on one hit and walked three batters pitching the ninth inning during a steady downpour in St. Louis’ 11-4 win in the first game of Saturday’s doubleheader.
“I’ve been trying to manage it,” VerHagen said. “I just feel like, at this point, I can’t really do what I need to do because of it. I just feel like yesterday I just kind of did something more on the wet mound, maybe. I’m not sure.”
Manager Oliver Marmol said he first learned about the injury when he was informed VerHagen was being placed on the injured list following Saturday’s games.
VerHagen was placed on the injured list last season from April 22 through May 15 and again from July 15 through the end of the season because of the same injury and underwent a surgical procedure on a hip in August.
St. Louis signed VerHagen to a two-year contract before the 2022 season after he pitched for the Hokkaido Nippon-Ham Fighters in Japan for two seasons.