What was true with his health and his role in his first year with the Cardinals, right-hander Drew VerHagen also felt with his fastball.
He was, in his words, “caught in between.”
A sinkerballer since he was 12, VerHagen reached pro ball by slicing two-seam fastballs in on hitters and getting groundballs at a goofy rate. He had a four-seam fastball in his pocket, but didn’t have much use for it until he went to Japan and dealt with contact hitters who poked that sinker for base hits. So, he countered with a four-seam fastball up and in.