Ranking the St. Louis Cardinals' 10 most important young players and prospects

#3 - Nolan Gorman

When Nolan Gorman is hot, he is quite literally the best player in all of baseball. This that's aggressive? Look at the kind of numbers he has put up since May 10th.

That's the thing with Gorman though, when he's hot. When Gorman isn't a scortching fireball on the field, he's still an awesome hitter, but the problem comes with his slumps. Sure, everyone goes through them, but if Gorman can look like the hottest hitter in baseball for stretches, he sure can look like the coldest for awhile too.

Here is something I have found encouraging about Gorman's 2024 campaign though. When Gorman went cold in 2023, it was unspeakably bad - I'm talking a 22 wRC+ and .439 OPS. He was quite literally the worst hitter in baseball for an entire month. This year, Gorman's cold stretch resulted in a 66 wRC+. It's still bad, but his low was not nearly as low as it was before, and if Gorman can manage his values a bit better than he did last year, he's going to have star numbers at the end of this season.

Last year, Gorman had two months where he posted a 150 wRC+ or better and two months where he posted a 135 wRC+ or better. Those are elite numbers. His only other off month in 2023 resulted in an 80 wRC+. But, because of how poor that month of June was for Gorman, his season wRC+ ended at a 118. He's still at a 120 wRC+ so far in 2024, and I think there's a good chance we see him finish among the best hitters in baseball this season at this rate.

Gorman will give you a few prolonged moments of frustration, but for the most part, he's one of the best hitters in the game, and he's figured out how to maximize his swing at the plate to do as much damage as possible, as often as possible.

I think we will see Gorman named as an All-Star this season, and the Cardinals now have a true star on their hands at second base. Someone with 35-40 home run potential at second base is not just rare in today's game, it's rare in the history of the game. Gorman is a trump card that the Cardinals can play that few teams can match, and that makes him extremely valuable to this club.

His health will always be the main concern, but his back issues seem to be much better right now. Gorman is so fun to watch right now, but so is his partner in crime up the middle of the diamond.