3 players who could be affected by the Cardinals drafting JJ Wetherholt

Nolan Gorman

The final -- and least likely to be affected -- player on this list is Nolan Gorman. The two players are years away from each other in development, so it's highly unlikely the organization will make any decisions regarding Nolan Gorman after drafting JJ Wetherholt even if Wetherholt develops quickly and shows great promise.

As was previously stated, it's possible Wetherholt's best position in the majors will be second base. Nolan Gorman currently occupies that space, and he's shown growth on the defensive side of the ball in just 3 seasons. He has gone from being worth -12 outs above average as a rookie in 2022 to being worth -2 last year and -5 this year. Offensively, Gorman provides pop that few other players on the major league roster do.

Gorman is tied for the team lead in home runs with 17, and his .206 ISO is tied for second.. When he's on, he's a true middle-of-the-order bat. The issue, however, comes when Gorman is in a slump. He's striking out 37.5% of the time this year, and his walk rate has fallen to just 9%. He's not a league average hitter anymore according to his wRC+ of 95.

If anything, Nolan Gorman stands a greater chance of being passed up by Saggese or Prieto in the near future than he does by Wetherholt. The two are so far apart in development that the drafting of JJ Wetherholt likely won't have any effect on Nolan Gorman's standing on the roster. There are about a half dozen things that need to happen before JJ Wetherholt directly affects Nolan Gorman on the roster and in the organization.

JJ Wetherholt's drafting likely won't affect any of these players. What his inclusion in the organization does do now is suppress concern for the future of the team. We could see his name in top 100 lists in the near future. A prospect with the talent of Wetherholt would make a trade of any one of these players a bit easier to understand.