After a sluggish start to the season, Cardinals Second Baseman Nolan Gorman has started to get results in the batters box the past two weeks. In the past two weeks, Gorman has hit more home runs — six — than anybody in baseball not named Aaron Judge. His slugging percentage of .604 is the 14th highest in the Majors.
Cardinals Second Baseman Getting Results After Slow Start
On June 4th, Gorman slugged two home runs off the Astros’ Justin Verlander in the Cardinals’ 7-4 loss in Houston. His performance caught the attention of Cardinals Management.
“Gorman is starting to feel good about where he’s at; he’s balanced and finding barrel,” Cardinals Manager Oliver Marmol said after the game.
Finding The Barrel
Gorman’s expected slugging percentage is higher than his actual slugging percentage on the season. Advanced stats put his season-long expected slugging at .501 when his actual is .470. His expected slugging percentage is in MLB’s top 10 percentile. This suggests he’s hit into bad luck. That luck could be turning around for the third-year second baseman.
Gorman has the seventh-highest barrel percentage in Baseball at 17.6 percent. He has the second-highest launch angle in the sweet spot percentage in the League at 44.8 percent. Gorman is also well above average for bat speed in baseball and is in the MLB’s top 30 percentile at the metric.
Nolan Gorman is heating up! 🔥
Another multi-home run game for the 24-year-old. pic.twitter.com/Ptzgq4KoCz
— St. Louis Cardinals (@Cardinals) June 4, 2024
“He’s playing with a lot more confidence, and he feels a lot better about where he’s at mechanically, so we’re seeing some of those swings that we’re used to seeing from him,” Marmol said after the Cardinals May 29 win over the Cincinnati Reds where Gorman hit his 9th home run.
Overcoming A Slow Start
The Cardinals had been counting on Gorman’s power going into the season. From the outset, the team has positioned him in the heart of the lineup. Through April, Gorman had only hit four home runs in 28 games. Gorman has hit 10 home runs in his last 26 games, and his hot streak has coincided with the Cardinals getting back into playoff position.
“I’m scuffling, but at the same time I’m not one to just throw my stuff and quit, I’m going to keep putting in work. I’ve been putting up good work in the cage and it just hasn’t translated yet,” Gorman said on April 23 after a 5-3 win over the Arizona Diamondbacks.
Gorman had a batting average of just .188 in April and slugged just .376 for the month. He’s pulled both of those numbers up, at .233 and .470, respectively, heading into the second week of June. In the last 30 days, he’s hit more home runs, has a higher slugging percentage, and a higher OPS than anybody else in the National League.
The Cardinal Core
Gorman was a first-round draft pick for the Cardinals as a third baseman in 2018. After the team traded for all-star Nolan Arenado, Gorman had to learn to play another position to get playing time.
The 24-year-old is still four years younger than the MLB average player age. He came up in 2022 as a rookie before putting together his first full season in the Big Leagues in 2023. That season, he batted for a .236 average with 27 home runs. He started 22 percent of his games at DH in 2023 and, so far in 2024, has started all of his games at second base.
“The biggest thing for me is going out there and being consistent. Consistency and playing 162 games for me is the most important thing, staying healthy and keeping my body right,” Gorman told the Foul Territory show heading into Spring Training in 2024.
Gorman spent two different stints on the IL in 2023. He entered 2024 for the first time in his Big League Career as an unquestioned starter for the Cardinals.
Main Photo Credits: Troy Taormina-USA TODAY Sports
