Nolan Gorman

With Masyn Winn and JJ Wetherholt back, the Cardinals have prioritized Thomas Saggese and José Fermin over Gorman, who is hitting just .186/.271/.314 in 292 plate appearances. It would seem to set Gorman up for being traded or non-tendered this winter. His career got off to a promising start, with him hitting 41 homers in 208 games at ages 22 and 23. However, in the three years since, he has a .199 average and has been worth -0.4 fWAR in 300 games.

It was Gorman’s only hit of the day, but he went his other four at-bats without striking out, which is something. Gorman is 5-for-35 with two homers, five RBI and a 12/1 K/BB in 11 games since returning from Triple-A. He might be looking at a lesser role when Masyn Winn comes off the injured list and Thomas Saggese, who has been filling in at shortstop, resumes roaming.

Gorman nearly got one today; his 360-foot flyout to right in the sixth would have been a homer in 21 ballparks, according to Statcast. With the Cardinals losing a third infielder to the IL on Sunday, Gorman figures to be looking at steady playing time against righties for a while. How he fares in September likely will determine whether he’s included in the Cardinals’ plans for 2027.

It’s expected that Masyn Winn will land on the injured list in a corresponding move. The Cardinals have been working on Gorman’s approach and mechanics in the minors, tweaking his batting stance and swing a bit. The power has been there in August, where he has hit seven home runs with a .903 OPS, but he continues to swing and miss a ton with a 37.8 percent strikeout rate in August as well. Even if Gorman gets regular at-bats with the big league club, it’s hard to see him producing much fantasy value unless all you care about are home runs.

Gorman went 0-for-3 with a pair of strikeouts on Thursday and that appears to have been the final straw for the Cardinals. The 26-year-old has flailed to a miserable .194/.279/.318 slash line with seven homers, 26 RBI and a 74/25 K/BB ratio over 229 plate appearances on the season. Blaze Jordan was recalled in a corresponding move to take his place on the active roster.

Gorman often comes out of games against lefties, but in an extreme show of low confidence, the Cardinals today had Bryan Torres hit for him against Devin Williams in the ninth. The Cardinals should have demoted Gorman instead of Thomas Saggese last week, but they kept him around and have watched him go hitless in four games since. He’s down to .194/.279/.318 for the year in 229 plate appearances for the year. Saggese apparently is hurt now — he hasn’t played for Triple-A Memphis since Saturday — but the Cardinals still could go to Blaze Jordan at third if they wanted.

Gorman has eight plate appearances in his last three games and has struck out in seven of them. He’s 2-for-33 with no extra-base hits, runs or RBI and 19 strikeouts in his last 11 games. He also had a misplay in the ninth tonight that went as a single and a throwing error, though most third basemen would have handled the chance without incident. Maybe the Cardinals will give Blaze Jordan a shot at third, but it seems notable that he’s played first base or DH’d in four straight games now after starting at third base in 26 of his first 44 starts for Triple-A Memphis. If the Cardinals don’t trust Jordan at third, Thomas Saggese still could be an upgrade from Gorman.

There’s no shame in having a rough game against Jacob Misiorowski, and, hey, Gorman did at least make him throw five pitches in his first at-bat before going down on three in each the remaining two. Gorman had a little six-game hitting streak from May 12-19 that included a homer, but in five games since, he’s 1-for-19 with nine strikeouts. He’s at .218/.303/.347 overall, and he still should be a candidate to be replaced by Thomas Saggeese or Blaze Jordan at some point.

Gorman had the first- and third-hardest hit balls of the game and both were liners, but he had nothing to show for the 111- and 108-mph drives. Gorman is batting .218/.287/.361 this season after coming in at .204/.284/.385 in 804 plate appearances between 2024 and ’25. It might be about time for the Cardinals to give Blaze Jordan a look in his place.

Gorman’s home run was his fourth of the season. He’s hitting .221 with four home runs, 11 runs and 18 RBI in 28 games this year. Gorman hasn’t had a league average wRC+ since 2023. Even after hitting his fourth home run, his .147 ISO would be the lowest of his career. Turning 26 next month, Gorman appears closer to losing playing time to someone like Thomas Saggesse than breaking out.

With a right handed pitcher on the mound, Gorman will re-enter the starting lineup. However, he’s hitting just .204 with a 33 percent strikeout rate, so he’ll need to start producing to hold off Ramon Urias and Thomas Saggesse for playing time.

All three hits for Gorman were singles. The 25-year-old has gotten off to another so-so start — at best — with a slash of .243/.310/.405, but perhaps this jolts him into a hot run. We have seen it before.

Gorman has his second homer of the season with a solo shot off an otherwise effective Clay Holmes. The 25-year-old is slugging .714 on the young campaign, and it’s nice to see a reminder of his impressive raw pop after two straight seasons with an OPS below .700.

He somehow managed to not drive in or score a run despite the two-hit attack, as well as another walk. Gorman has an .879 OPS this spring and figures to be the starting third baseman and hit somewhere in the middle of the order for the Cardinals. All-or-nothing power remains both the ceiling and floor for Gorman.

Gorman remains as all-or-nothing as any hitter, as he’s now got a .751 OPS in 17 spring at-bats that is held up entirely by two homers. He’s batted third or fourth in all of his Grapefruit League contests to date, but we wouldn’t pencil him in for that kind of role just yet. He’s a risky NL-only pick at the moment.

Gorman ruined Jonah Tong’s day by hitting a ball 386 feet with one out in the third. Gorman has mostly played second base in the majors, but the Cardinals appear set to make him Nolan Arenado’s replacement at third base this year. He has some work to do to show he deserves it; since hitting .236/.328/.478 in his first full season in 2023, he’s come it at .204/.284/.385 the last two years.

The flaw of arbitration is that you can be a pretty terrible player otherwise, but if you hit homers, you’ll get paid. Gorman, who was eligible for arbitration, was decent enough in 2023, but he’s hit .204/.284/.385 with a 36% strikeout rate and bad defense in 218 games the last two years. He’ll probably get another long look this season, assuming that the Cardinals trade Nolan Arenado and/or Brendan Donovan, but José Fermín and Thomas Saggese both project as better players at this point and top prospect JJ Wetherholt could crash the party soon.

Gorman last sat on Aug. 12. Alas, he didn’t much take advantage of his opportunity to be a lineup fixture during Arenado’s absence, hitting just .198/.298/.351 with five homers in 38 games since his own return from the injured list on Aug. 1. After following up a promising 2023 with two seasons as essentially a replacement-level performer, he’s not someone who should be penciled into the Cardinals’ 2026 lineup.