ATLANTA — Nolan Gorman’s start to the 2025 season has been frustrating, to say the least.
After being named a top priority for playing time throughout the offseason, Gorman started the year on the bench for the St. Louis Cardinals. He strained his hamstring a week into the schedule, which caused him to miss ten days of the early season. When he returned, he regressed into a brutal slump, going just 4-for-23 in eight games.
The start of Tuesday’s game didn’t go much better. Gorman began the day 0-for-4, including two strikeouts and a flyout with the bases loaded to end the inning.
Then he delivered the biggest hit of the road trip.
With two outs and the bases loaded in the top of the eighth, Gorman pummeled a 1-1 changeup from Braves right-hander Enyel De Los Santos, roping it down the right-field line for a go-ahead three-run double to break up a 4-4 tie. The floodgates opened after that. St. Louis scored three more runs in the ninth inning to roll to a 10-4 win over Atlanta, snapping a five-game losing streak and giving the Cardinals their first road win since April 8.
“I had some opportunities to drive in some runs in earlier at-bats,” Gorman said. “Was given another one and was able to do the job this time.”
Go-Ahead Gorman clears the bases! pic.twitter.com/JDU4wUTBfU
— St. Louis Cardinals (@Cardinals) April 23, 2025
“You put in so much hard work, you want to be rewarded about it,” Cardinals manager Oli Marmol said. “He’s going about it the right way. To be able to come back in that situation and drive those runs in is what this is about. Sticking with the process and allowing for a little bit of time.
“That was one of my favorite parts of that game, is seeing him able to come back up in that situation and come through.”
The hope for Gorman is that he’ll be able to have at-bats like that more consistently. To help with that, the Cardinals have reverted to their original usage plan with him.
“I’m looking at it where I’d like to see what Gorman looks like for a little stretch (mostly) at the DH,” Marmol said.
Prior to Tuesday’s game, the Cardinals activated Masyn Winn (back) off the 10-day injured list and optioned Michael Siani to Triple-A Memphis as the corresponding move. It was a decision that Marmol and his staff did not make lightly. Though the team knew Winn would be activated, they did not decide who the optioned player would be until a few hours before game time. When Brendan Donovan (who was originally scheduled to play second base and bat third Tuesday but was scratched) reported to the stadium with rib soreness, Marmol did not want to risk being short an infielder. He elected to keep Thomas Saggese, who has a .989 OPS in 12 games, on the roster for protection, even though Donovan’s rib soreness is not expected to be serious.
That begs the question of how the skipper is going to balance playing time with his slew of infielders (Winn, Donovan, Saggese, Gorman and Alec Burleson), especially with Gorman’s playing time taking precedent, at least for now.
The plan: Winn and Donovan will remain everyday players. Winn will play shortstop and Donovan will again resume utility player duties, though he’ll likely see the bulk of the starts at second base for now. Saggese can give either player a day off, and Marmol plans to work him in the lineup accordingly. Burleson, who has been cold to start the year with a .284 slugging percentage and a .585 OPS entering play Tuesday, will be the player who sees playing time cut the most, but he won’t necessarily ride the bench either.
“We’ve scheduled out what we want the lineup to look like from here through all of (the next series),” Marmol said. “They’ll all get time. But at the moment, I’d like to see what Gorman can do.”
“We have to keep our word there, right?” he added. “We said (Gorman would play), and even after the injury, that’s not runway. You have to allow him to go through some of the ups and downs. He’s going to get better. He’s working hard at it and we’re committed to seeing it through.”
Insurance provided by Victor Scott II! pic.twitter.com/TEIKjGofbe
— St. Louis Cardinals (@Cardinals) April 23, 2025
The key evaluation for Gorman will be his contact rate. In 2024, Gorman ranked among the worst in baseball in both strikeout rate (37.6 percent) and whiff rate (38.7 percent). Only three players in the sport had higher percentages: Will Benson, Zack Gelof and Jose Siri. But on balls he made contact with, Gorman posted encouraging metrics, including a 16.7 percent barrel rate that ranked in the 98th percentile. Now it’s simply about hitting the ball more and swinging and missing less.
“If he makes enough contact, it leads to high production,” Marmol said. “It usually leads to doubles and homers. He’s working really hard to make more contact.”
Tuesday’s game made for a solid start. Now the hope is that Gorman can build off it.
(Photo: Kevin C. Cox / Getty Images)