September 25, 2025
St. Louis Cardinals news
The St. Louis Cardinals have several major decisions to make this offseason, and one of the biggest revolves around Nolan Gorman’s future.
Gorman has shown flashes of elite power during his career. His best season came in 2023, when he hit 27 home runs with 76 RBIs while batting .236 over 119 games in just his second big-league season. At his peak, he can be a dangerous middle-of-the-order bat, but his role in St. Louis has been far from stable.
This year, Gorman has played in 108 games, posting 14 home runs and 46 RBIs with a .204/.297/.372 slash line. He briefly took over third base when Nolan Arenado was sidelined, looking poised for a breakthrough, but his performance dipped again.
The Cardinals have experimented with giving him steady opportunities, but inconsistency has remained a theme. His future now depends on whether the team views him as part of its core moving forward.
According to Derrick Goold of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, Gorman is one of several options for the third base job in 2026. Other candidates include Brendan Donovan, who earned a Gold Glove in 2022, Thomas Saggese, who has been playing shortstop, and top prospect JJ Wetherholt.
Defensively, Gorman has experience at third base, his original position before Arenado’s arrival pushed him to second. He’s logged over 400 innings at third this season but also committed six errors and posted a minus-3 Defensive Runs Saved rating—the most errors at the position for the Cardinals this year.
Trade speculation has surrounded Gorman in recent seasons, raising further questions about his long-term fit in St. Louis. This offseason could be decisive: will the Cardinals commit to him as a building block or move on in search of more stability?
Beta feature
Beta feature