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 provides left-handed power that the Cardinals have been sorely lacking

Although the Cardinals' lineup has been one of the better lineups in baseball the last two years, the two things people could point two as major flaws were the last of a third dependable bat and the lack of a left-handed power threat.

This has never really hurt them in the regular season, but when you get to October, matchups are everything, and not having someone you fear from the left side of the plate limits the amount of pressure you can put on an opposing staff.

With Gorman, the Cardinals may finally have their answer for the elite pitching they'll face this October. Gorman can eventually bat fifth in the Cardinals order as protection for Goldschmidt and Arenado, or they could get creative and slot him in third, to break up the run of right-handed hitters and make it extremely hard for clubs to bring in a lefty to face Gorman or righties to face Goldschmidt and Arenado.

Gorman will be 23 soon, so that may feel like a lot of pressure to put on a second-year player, but that is the benefit of Gorman being the third bat - the two guys he's behind in the pecking order are MVP candidates. Plus, he's already shown a clutch gene two times during the young season.

Not only that, but the Cardinals also have a deep lineup of high-upside bats to take pressure off of Gorman, which brings me to my third point.