Woodford will compete to be the Cardinals' fifth starter, Katie Woo of The Athletic reports.
Woodford and Drew VerHagen appear to have the inside edge for the fifth spot in the rotation after news broke of Jack Flaherty (shoulder) being unavailable for Opening Day. In his second major-league season, Woodford started in eight of his 26 appearances. He posted a steady 3.99 ERA, 1.34 WHIP and 50:25 K:BB across 67.2 innings. He lacks velocity with an average fastball of 91.7 mph last season, and it's likely the right-hander bounces between the rotation and the bullpen throughout 2022.