Cardinals infielder Nolan Gorman starts his offseason work early with Driveline

Players start their offseason work at various points. More often than not, they get back to work as quickly as possible. For St. Louis Cardinals third baseman Nolan Gorman, that work has already started.

Driveline, a group that focuses on data-driven player development, is a place where dozens of major-league and minor-league players go in the offseason to work on specific aspects of their game. In the past, players like Jordan Walker, Riley O'Brien, Paul Goldschmidt, and Nolan Arenado of the Cardinals, among several others, have all spent time with Driveline to fix holes in their respective games.

Gorman finished the 2026 season with a .184/.272/.308 slash line with just nine home runs and 33 RBIs in 266 at-bats for a 62 wRC+. He continued his strikeout woes with a 32.5% K rate, and his power was sapped (.124 ISO). While he finished the year in the majors, the bulk of his season was spent toiling in Triple-A Memphis. The third baseman didn't fare much better there, striking out 36.3% of the time with a .182/.328/.430 slash line for a 99 wRC+.

Nolan Gorman looks to continue a long history of St. Louis Cardinals who found success after a stint with Driveline.

Seeing the words "player went to Driveline" can evoke a lot of reactions from fans online, but it's historically been an excellent place for players to go and refine their crafts for the upcoming season. Nolan Gorman is but one player in another long line of former Cardinals to go to Driveline in the offseason.

Jordan Walker went to Driveline almost a year ago exactly. He worked to unlock his raw power by correcting his back-hip collapse and boosting his line drive and fly ball percentages. He also focused on his attack angle. Walker then continued this work in spring training. He parlayed that hard work into a resurgent 2026 season where he hit 29 home runs and drove in 102 runs.

Nolan Arenado met with Driveline ahead of the 2022 season, a year in which he finished third in National League MVP voting. He worked on bat speed with Driveline, improving his average bat speed from 70.3 MPH in 2021 to 72.7 MPH in 2022.

Riley O'Brien developed a new slider prior to the 2023 season thanks to some help from the guys at Driveline. He also worked on improving his velocity on his fastball. Interestingly enough, his slider was his best pitch in 2026 according to Baseball Savant's Run Value metric.

Gorman's 2026 season left much to be desired. The Cardinals are keeping third base open as they head into the 2027 season. There's a chance Gorman could be non-tendered to open up space on the 40-man roster, but Chaim Bloom and the Cardinals might keep him on the team to at least start the year. MLB Trade Rumors projects him for a modest $3.4MM salary next year.

We all hope that Nolan Gorman can be a power-hitting third baseman in 2027 for the Cardinals. Hopefully, his work at Driveline will help him accomplish that goal.

Add us as a preferred source on Google

Follow