St. Louis Cardinals: Reacting to Jenifer Langosch’s roster predictions

Nolan Gorman has been one of the fastest rising minor league players the Cardinals organization has had in a very long time. His quick acclimation to professional ball has had many fans hoping that his MLB debut comes soon, but Langosch believes those expectations should be tempered.

Drafted in the first round of this year’s amateur draft by the Cardinals at just 18 years old, Nolan Gorman has already made it to Single-A. He did put up a bit of a dud with a .202/280/.426 slash line, but the power upside and dominance of the Rookie League at such a young age made Cardinal fans salivate.

That hype has died down a little bit now that Matt Carpenter is the starting third baseman, and it is probably a good thing it did. Gorman is a solid prospect, and his almost 1.107 OPS in 38 games with the Johnson City Cardinals, but he’s still a ways away. Many fans have been hoping Gorman might make his MLB debut as early as next season, but Langosch’s belief is that the earliest that Gorman would make his St. Louis Cardinals debut is in 2021

That may have been a tough pill to swallow last season, but it seems like a very reasonable timeline. It’s clear that he is still going to need significant additional time in Single-A, and progress through Double-A and Triple-A in the span of two-plus seasons. Thinking about it in the sense of the bigger picture, it’s more than reasonable.

With the starting infield shored up with legitimate starters, the need for Gorman that was present last season just isn’t there anymore. His progress is certainly impressive, but that doesn’t mean the Cardinals need to rush him into situations he just isn’t experienced enough to handle.

While Gorman is a touted prospect, he’s no blue chip, bona fide, generational talent, so he doesn’t deserve to have such high and immediate expectations thrown upon him, and this lax approach towards quickly progressing him through the minors is probably a good thing.