The Cardinal made his first signing for MLB after shutdown by signing Drew VerHagen to a two-year contract

The St. Louis Cardinals The first signing since a Major League Baseball owner-imposed shutdown expired Thursday night, nearly 99 days after it was first installed. According to Mark Vinsand of MLB.comThe Cardinals agreed to a two-year, $5.5 million agreement with the right-handed pitcher Drew VerHagen.

VerHagen, 31, has spent the past two seasons with the Hokkaido Nippon Ham Fighters of the Nippon Professional League of Japan baseball. He appeared 39 times with the fighters, accumulating a 3.51 ERA and 3.47 strike-to-walk ratio.

VerHagen has extensive experience with the major leagues. Before heading abroad, he appeared in over 120 major league matches as a member of Detroit Tiger organisation. He scored career scores for 5.11 ERA (88 ERA+) and a 2.08 walk-to-walk across 199 runs. His contributions were, as estimated by the Baseball Reference, equal to 1 Win Above Replacement.

VerHagen wouldn’t be the first shooter to struggle with his initial exposure to the majors, head overseas for a few years, and then return to the US in better shape. Heck, he might take part in the rotation with Miles Micholas, who wrote a similar story earlier in his career. Mikulas had a 5.32 career in the modern era when he left for Japan in his mid-twenties. He returned to MLB in 2018, and has since accumulated 3.54 ERAs in 73 starts.

It’s worth noting that VerHagen appears to be particularly suitable for Cardinals on one hand. Roughly 54 percent of the hits in his career in the major tournaments have been from a variety variety. The Cardinals allowed a batting average of 217 on the ball last season, the second lowest mark at the major balls, behind only Los Angeles Dodgers.

VerHagen is the second potential addition the Cardinals have made in their turn this winter. Before the closure entered into force, St. Louis veteran left signed Stephen Matz for a four-year agreement worth $44 million.