Cardinals: Nolan Gorman has signature moment against division rival

St. Louis Cardinals rookie second baseman Nolan Gorman had his signature moment against the division rival Milwaukee Brewers.

For years, Nolan Gorman has been lauded as a prominent part of the St. Louis Cardinals infield picture. It was just a matter of where that would be defensively, as the Nolan Arenado addition gave them their short-term (and potentially long-term) answer at third base.

But with second base open after Paul DeJong was optioned and Tommy Edman moved to shortstop, Gorman has been the Cardinals’ primary second baseman. And on Tuesday against the Milwaukee Brewers, Gorman had his signature rookie moment as he went 4 for 4 with two home runs and four RBI in a 6-2 victory.

On the season, Gorman is hitting .280/.350/.516 with a .866 OPS, six home runs and 17 RBI. He became the fifth Cardinals rookie to hit at least six homers in his first 29 career games, according to The Elias Sports Bureau, joining Albert Pujols (nine), J.D. Drew (seven), Paul DeJong (six) and Joe Cunningham (six).

Gorman is silencing any doubters, as there has been recent speculation that he could be optioned to Triple-A. Such a decision would prove foolish, as Tuesday’s game underscored the type of ability that he has, and he relayed to reporters (including The Athletic) that he is finally feeling comfortable at the plate, saying: “There’s definitely pitches I’ve swung at that weren’t good lately, but at the same time, I think I’m doing an overall better job at pitch selection.”

It’s reasonable to expect Gorman to produce better numbers going forward, especially as he gets accustomed to major-league pitching. But he’ll have to cut down the strikeouts (33 in 93 at-bats) in order to reach his full potential.

Still, if Arenado opts into the remainder of his contract with the Cardinals, their long-term infield will feature Paul Goldschmidt, Gorman, Edman and Arenado. That’s not including Tyler O’Neill, Dylan Carlson, Harrison Bader and Jordan Walker (once he’s called up).

The Cardinals offense will be in very good shape going forward, especially if what Gorman is showing now is the sign of things to come.