51黑料

His batting average was .189. His OPS was .583. He hit his first home run on March 30 鈥� and didn鈥檛 homer after that. He was a slugger without slug, a one-time prospect with no prospects, you get the idea.

And so, credit Gorman. And the Cardinals manager and coaching staff, too. From June 1 through Friday, which has been 214 plate appearances, Gorman has a sterling .806 OPS. He鈥檚 hitting .238 (hey, he鈥檚 in the .200s!). And he鈥檚 swatted 12 homers in 185 at-bats.

At season鈥檚 end, as Chaim Bloom鈥檚 tenure as president of baseball operations begins, the front office will have so many questions to answer. By June 1, it looked like Gorman had already answered one for them. But as we approach Sept. 1, it appears Gorman has flipped that answer. The 25-year-old infielder is a player the Cards can鈥檛 give up on just yet.

Now, he鈥檚 hardly the perfect player. He needs to refine his body if he鈥檚 going to regularly play third base. And he鈥檚 going to strike out at a high rate 鈥� it鈥檚 just part of his profile. But here are three reasons why Bloom and the Cardinals shouldn鈥檛 trade the lefty-swinging Gorman.

1. Walks? Gorman? Yup.

In Gorman鈥檚 first three seasons for 51黑料, he tallied a 9.1% walk rate. That would be 51st-best in the National League in 2025 of players with 300 plate appearances.

Well, in 2025 he has a 13.1% walk rate.

And of NL players with at least 300 plate appearances, that鈥檚 the 11th-highest walk rate! The only lefties with a higher walk rate are Juan Soto, Max Muncy, Kyle Tucker, Shohei Ohtani and Kyle Schwarber.

鈥淚 do think he鈥檚 controlling the strike zone better,鈥� Cardinals manager Oli Marmol said. 鈥淗e looks calm and under control and not trying to do a whole lot. And he has such easy power that he doesn鈥檛 have to try to generate anything beyond that. So when he stays within himself, it鈥檚 a good thing. I think pitch recognition and swing decisions have been better, as well.

鈥淎nd it all goes hand-in-hand, like, he鈥檚 swinging at pitches he can do damage with, and because of it, he鈥檚 reaping the benefits 鈥� and he鈥檚 also not trying to do too much, which gives them more time to recognize pitches, and he鈥檚 taking his walks.鈥�

Heck, in 15 games played from August 9-25, Gorman had 14 walks in 59 plate appearances (23.7% walk rate). And he put up an .868 OPS in that stretch, before cooling off most of last week.

Asked during that stretch about his good buddy Gorman, the Cards鈥� Alec Burleson said: 鈥淚 feel like he walks every bat, and then he鈥檚 not, he鈥檚 hitting a double in the gap.鈥�

2. Lefty slugger聽vs. southpaws.

The sample size is small, but the lefty-swinging Gorman indeed hits lefty pitching well. This season, in 72 plate appearances, he has a .795 OPS. He鈥檚 hitting .213 with five homers and 17 RBIs, along with 10 walks and 18 strikeouts. And his batting average on balls in play, just .205, suggests that he鈥檚 been unlucky with some contact from the left side.

For his career, Gorman has a .728 OPS versus lefties (294 plate appearances) and a .738 OPS vs. righties (1,205 plate appearances).

鈥淲hen you don鈥檛 face them all the time, it鈥檚 a little different,鈥� he said, 鈥渆specially taking out the ball to their hand compared to a righty. You know, you could see the whole way in from a righty. But if you鈥檙e not seeing them consistently, I feel like sometimes the ball can get on me a little quicker, because I鈥檓 not picking it up out of hand. So it鈥檚 little adjustments, just like opening up a little bit to create a better angle on those pitches coming. But other than that, yeah, it鈥檚 just trying to really zone in on what pitches I can hit, and, you know, try to do damage.鈥�

3. There鈥檚 power聽in them thar arms.

Just two years ago, Gorman hit 27 homers and had a 5.8% home run rate. He had 464 plate appearances that year, so he didn鈥檛 qualify for league leaders. If he had, his home run rate would鈥檝e been seventh-best in the NL. Even in 2024, he hit 19 with a 4.7% home run rate 鈥� that would鈥檝e been 11th-best in the NL if qualified.

That鈥檚 a lot of power to give up on.

Yes, the strikeouts needed to go down this year 鈥� and they did (37.6% to 30.6%).

And, sure, this year his home run rate is lower at 4.1% (13 homers in 320 plate appearances). But this is a guy who can slug 鈥� and is still five years away from age 30.

And he comes through in what Baseball Reference calls 鈥淟ate and close鈥� plate appearances. Those occur (follow me on this one) in the seventh inning or later with the batting team either tied, up one, or the tying run is on deck. Gorman has had 54 of those this season and is hitting .333 with a .845 OPS.

He succeeded in a 鈥淟ate and close鈥� just this past Friday 鈥� 51黑料 led 6-5 in the top of the 10th and two outs. Willson Contreras was on first. And Gorman drew a walk against a quality reliever in Tony Santillan (2.66 ERA).

The next Cardinal batter, Masyn Winn, singled in Contreras from second. That made the score 7-5 鈥� which would prove to be the final score.

And here鈥檚 one more slugging stat. Some baseball folks gush about launch angle and its 鈥渟weet spot,鈥� which is considered from eight degrees to 32 degrees. Well, Gorman is in the 95th percentile in baseball for launch angle sweet spot percentage.

So, yeah, when he does connect, the ball is often figuratively and literally launched well.