3 ways Nolan Gorman emerging as the Cardinals' third bat transforms their lineup

The Cardinals have finally found their third big bat in the form of Nolan Gorman

For the last two years, it seems like the St. Louis Cardinals have been missing that "third big bat" in their lineup that can mash alongside Paul Goldschmidt and Nolan Arenado.

During the 2021 season, it felt like Tyler O'Neill had emerged as that guy, especially after an extremely hot September where he hit .328 with 13 home runs and 30 RBI during that stretch. Unfortunately, injuries robbed him of a repeat 2022 season, but he's showing flashes of production again in 2023.

Albert Pujols arguably filled that void once again after his historic second-half run with the club last season, but he has now retired and left a hole in the Cardinals lineup.

One way the Cardinals decided to address that need was by replacing their awful offensive production from the catcher position with a big bat in the form of Willson Contreras. Last season, Cardinals catchers ranked 27th in all of baseball with a 68 wRC+. The Cardinals went from being 32 points below league average at the plate from the catcher position to having a guy in Contreras who can rank about 20 or so points above league average - a 50-point swing.

While Contreras is still a big bat and is a quality third option on this team, the emergence of Nolan Gorman this year should establish him as the club's third-best bat in the near future.

This is no slight to Contreras or O'Neill, or even a guy like Jordan Walker, who is very well on pace to be a superstar in the near future. This just says a lot about who Gorman is becoming.

There are three specific ways this emergence from Gorman transforms this Cardinals' lineup, and could mean trouble for opposing pitchers all year long.

Nolan Gorman is hitting like one of the best sluggers in baseball

This may seem like an obvious point, and the next two will get into some more nuances that also take this lineup to the next level, but the fact that the Cardinals' third bat is slugging like an All-Star means good things for this lineup.

Credit to @CardinalsReek on Twitter, as he pointed out that Gorman ranks second in the National League among qualified (which includes 98 players) in wOBA (.484), wRC+ (201), OPS (1.186), fourth in WAR (0.6), eleventh in EV (93.5) and thirteenth in BB% (17.9%).

Translation: Gorman is one of the most dangerous hitters in baseball to begin this year.

This isn't shocking to those who followed Gorman's offseason and Spring Training. Gorman worked extremely hard this offseason to improve on his weaknesses at the plate and be able to let his tools shine through more. He was one of, if not the most impressive, Cardinal throughout all of Spring Training and seemed primed for a breakout this season.

People seemed to be quick to give up on Gorman after he didn't set the world on fire during his rookie campaign. He still hit 14 home runs in 89 games and had a .721 OPS, but his strikeouts seemed to overshadow any production.

This season, Gorman has cut down his strikeout rate significantly and grown his walk rate in a big way. When pitchers do give him something in the zone, he's been doing damage with it time and time again. Gorman is already looking like the kind of guy scouts and fans were dreaming he could be at the plate.

On top of just how good his bat has been to this point, there are two important qualities about Gorman that help this team even more in unique ways.

Nolan Gorman will be surrounded by high upside bats throughout the order

The beauty of Gorman emerging as a second base/DH option for the Cardinals is that the club has pieces at every other position in their lineup to field a high-upside supporting cast.

The corner infield spots have future Hall of Famers in their prime, they have one of the best-hitting catchers in the business, their middle infield (assuming Gorman DHs) has an on-base/power machine in Donovan and scrappy speed threat in Edman, and their outfield has five quality options that all have strong arguments to start on a contender.

The Cardinals have the pieces to support Gorman in their lineup. Right now, Donovan, Burleson, and Nootbaar represent great on-base threats with power at the top of the order with power. The bottom of the order can have a mix of dangerous hitters with O'Neill, Walker, Contreras, and Edman. Opposing pitching can't pitch around a guy like Gorman or risk allowing the rest of the lineup to break the game wide open.

So what does that mean? Gorman should keep getting quality chances to do damage throughout the year. For as much as teams would rather avoid pitching to a lefty masher like Gorman, the MVP duo and elite supporting cast give them little choice.

Gorman has the talent and unique skillset to transform this Cardinals' lineup if he keeps up his hot start, and I'm anticipating an All-Star-level season from Gorman in response to that.