4 Cardinal hitters who will get hot in the month of June

The baseball spirits of St. Louis are trending upward. After losing their third game of the series to the Brewers, not only were the Cardinals 0-6 against one of their division rivals, but they had also lost seven straight, sat at 15-24, and were nine games behind first place in the National League Central. Since their 4-3 victory on May 12th, the Cardinals have won eight of ten and moved to third place in the NL Central with a record of 24-26. 

When the Cardinals lost their seventh straight game on May 11th, they ranked at or near the bottom in major offensive categories. According to FanGraphs, since the start of the Cardinals season on March 28th, the offense ranked 25th overall in wRC+ (84), 27th overall in on-base percentage (.295), and dead last overall in home runs (28). It is no secret why there were calls for Turner Ward’s dismissal as hitting coach. 

Since May 12th, the offense has been one, if not the best in all of Major League Baseball, much to the delight of an exasperated and frustrated Cardinal fanbase. In the last two weeks, the St. Louis Cardinals rank 1st in average (.292), 1st in on-base percentage (.364), 2nd in wOBA at .359, and 2nd in wRC+ (136).

While the Cardinals will enter June, finishing a series against the best team in the majors, the Philadelphia Phillies, the month will feature multiple series against less-formidable foes. These opponents include a Houston Astros team trending upward, a four-game series at Busch Stadium against cellar-dweller Colorado, a three-game series against 24-28 Pittsburgh, and a trip to Miami to face the Marlins. The Redbirds finish June with a four-game series against last-place Cincinnati.     

Sure, the Cubs present a formidable challenge when both teams meet at Wrigley, and the Giants and Braves will come to Busch Stadium, but June is a month where the Cardinals need to dominate the upcoming competition. Therefore, fans will watch these four batters turn up their offensive game in June to help the team.

Lars Nootbaar

In Saturday’s exhilarating 7-6 win over the Cubs, Lars Nootbaar went 3-for-5 in perhaps the best game of 2024. He delivered a critical RBI triple in the bottom of the eight to provide what later proved to be the winning hit. That triple adds to the much-needed turnaround for Nootbaar’s offense as the Cardinals try to climb to a .500 record.

You can make the case that Lars Nootbaar has gotten hot right now. St. Louis Post-Dispatch journalist Ben Hochman has a series entitled Ten Hochman. On his May 23rd episode, he discussed how good Nootbaar has been for the Cardinals.

When he gets the bat on the ball lately, he’s doing quite well lately. He recorded an RBI in his third straight game with a runner in scoring position yesterday. That’s, of course, impressive. He even got a hit off a lefty. First time since May 12th at Milwaukee, and his biggest play of all in yesterday’s win to sweep the Baltimore Orioles was that amazing catch. Amazing catch in right field! I did not think he was going to catch that. 

In addition to Hochman’s commentary, check this out:  

From now on, the big question for Nootbaar is if he can stay healthy and avoid the injury bug. Despite an OPS+ of .784 and a team-leading OBP of .367, Nootbaar appeared in only 117 games as he dealt with injuries to his thumb, back, and groin muscles. We know he broke two ribs in Spring Training this year, so his 2024 was already off to an inauspicious start. 

Since he finished April with a mediocre .189 batting average and a poor OBP of .296, Nootbaar batted .268 this month and raised his OBP this season to .338. With his health intact and decent production lately, look for Lars Nootbaar to continue his hot stretch into June. 

Michael Siani

At first, Michael Siani seemed to be a minor-league replacement batter who filled in for an injured Dylan Carlson. Despite his impressive speed and range in center field, Siani appeared overmatched at the plate and uncomfortable. It was eerily similar to Justin Williams’ stretch at the beginning of the 2021 season, and we know how that played out. 

Nevertheless, Marmol stuck with Siani as Carlson nursed his left shoulder injury from spring training. Now, it looks like he found his groove in the batters’ box. 

Starting on April 30th in the second game of the Detroit double-header, Siani, whose batting average sat under .200 throughout the month, went 1-for-2 with one run scored. That started a respectable eight-game hitting streak. In the fifteen games between April 30th and May 19th, when the Cardinals finished their Boston series, Siani collected at least one hit in ten games. 

Here is an excerpt from Bernie Miklasz’s Redbird Review, available on Scoops with Danny Mac, that I found interesting regarding Siani’s turnaround on May 21st.

In his first 44 plate appearances of the season the outfielder batted .118 with no RBIs. In his last 49 plate appearances, Siani is hitting .326 with a .340 onbase percentage and .413 slug and has a double, homer and six RBIs. Gotta be happy for this classy guy. He’s developed into an important player for the Cardinals.

Before the start of the 2024 season, Siani only appeared in nine games with the Cincinnati Reds in 2022. Last year, he appeared in eight games between the Reds and the Cardinals all season. We need to see more of a picture of what he can do when he gets regular playing time. 

Next month, we will know if he can produce more than he has shown, but I am optimistic that Siani can showcase more, even when Dylan Carlson gets more at-bats and playing time.

Nolan Gorman

Nolan Gorman is a candidate here for hitters who will get hot because he showed last year that he can go on a torrid stretch where he scorches pitches. Not to toot my own horn, but I advocated for him to be a 2023 All-Star when he had a blistering stretch last year, highlighted by his clutch home run off Dodgers’ left-handed reliever Victor González, at a time when he was not hitting left-handed pitching.

For Gorman to get hot, he needs to (surprise, surprise) cut down on whiffing. It continues to be a problem throughout his professional career. Statcast has Gorman as the number-one ranked player in Whiff%, resulting from getting fooled on different pitches thrown to him in plate appearances. However, when he makes contact, it is hard contact, as Keegan Akin found out last Wednesday at Busch Stadium.

The Cardinals have one of the worst barrel percentages in Major League Baseball, but Gorman is an outlier. Not only does Gorman rank in Major League Baseball’s top 15 in Barrel%, but he is also the number-one ranked player in Launch-Angle(LA) - SweetSpot%. Gorman might be experiencing bad baseball luck, as his xwOBA of .342 outweighs his wOBA of .318.

Like the batters mentioned before, Gorman experienced an uptick in his offense in May. Not only has the second baseman homered in three of the last six games, but Gorman raised his paltry OBP from .254 at the beginning of the month to a season-high of .308 as of Sunday. It’s not where the Cardinals want that OBP, but it is a much-needed improvement as the team approaches June 1st. 

Because Gorman has started to hone his gifted power with the bat at this point in the season, he is a candidate who will get hot in June. Perhaps we can see another magnificent tear akin to May 2023.