Cardinals Can't Ignore What's Happening With 3B Nolan Gorman

The St. Louis Cardinals have to keep a close eye on Nolan Gorman at the plate right now.

Jun 2, 2026; St. Louis, Missouri, USA; St. Louis Cardinals third baseman Nolan Gorman (16) is congratulated by teammates after hitting a solo home run against the Texas Rangers during the fourth inning at Busch Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Jeff Curry-Imagn Images | Jeff Curry-Imagn Images

The vibes are sky-high around the St. Louis Cardinals right now, but there is one area of the club that hasn't thrived so far in 2026 and that's at third base.

With Nolan Arenado out the door this past offseason in a trade with the Arizona Diamondbacks, it opened up the door for Nolan Gorman to pick up the mantle as the team's third baseman. Defensively, Gorman has stepped up. He is in the 73rd percentile in outs above average at one. Unfortunately, that's the only thing that has gone right for him so far this season.

His consistency at the plate has been a hot topic over the last few years, but it was chalked up to an inconsistent role. This year, he has had a consistent role, but there hasn't been enough improvement at the plate. He has played in 61 games so far this season and is slashing .197/.283/.323 with a .606 OPS, seven homers, 26 RBIs, 25 walks, 72 strikeouts, four doubles, and 19 runs scored. With Gorman, you expect to see extra-base hits. This season, he has just 11 total extra-base hits so far.

The Cardinals' Third Baseman Is Struggling

Jun 1, 2026; St. Louis, Missouri, USA; St. Louis Cardinals shortstop Masyn Winn (0) is congratulated by third baseman Nolan Gorman (16) after hitting a solo home run against the Texas Rangers during the sixth inning at Busch Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Jeff Curry-Imagn Images | Jeff Curry-Imagn Images

His advanced metrics don't paint a prettier picture. Right now, he's in the 15th percentile in batting run value, 11th percentile in xwOBA, sixth percentile in expected batting average, 23rd percentule in expected slugging percentage, 46th percentile in average exit velocity, 58th percentile in barrel rate, 58th percentule in hard-hit rate, third percentile in squared-up rate, 38th percentile in chase rate, first percentile in whiff rate, and sixth percentile in strikeout rate.

There's no way to sugarcoat it. Those numbers aren't where they need to be and soon enough the Cardinals are going to have to consider a change.

The club just did the same thing with Victor Scott II. He was slashing .194/.276/.258 with a .534 OPS, two homers, nine RBIs, and nine stolen bases in 61 games. His advanced metrics were even worse than Gorman's, but not by much. The Cardinals have stuck with Gorman for a while at this point, but the clock should be ticking. There's an option down in Triple-A making some noise in Blaze Jordan.

The 2026 season began with development as the main objective. That's still the case, but this is also a team that is eight games above .500 and in second place in the National League Central. The Cardinals just made a significant change by sending Scott down. If Gorman doesn't turn it around offensively imminently, another change should be on the way.