Cardinals Facing Conundrum at Third Base Amid Nolan Gorman's Struggles

Nolan Gorman hasn't quite panned out.

May 13, 2026; West Sacramento, California, USA; St. Louis Cardinals third baseman Nolan Gorman (16) celebrates with teammates after scoring against the Athletics during the fourth inning at Sutter Health Park. Mandatory Credit: Ed Szczepanski-Imagn Images | Ed Szczepanski-Imagn Images

The St. Louis Cardinals managed to salvage a game against the Texas Rangers on Wednesday night, winning 5-3 and improving to 32-28 on the season. However, they are facing a bit of a problem, particularly at third base.

They haven't gotten much production out of Nolan Gorman, and although he hit a home run in Tuesday night's loss to Texas, he is still hitting just .204 with a .621 OPS. He took over at third base after the Nolan Arenado trade last offseason.

Derrick Goold of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch recently discussed Gorman's struggles and how the Cardinals are facing a conundrum at third base beyond just Gorman.

Cardinals Facing Problems at Third Base

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

"Who of this group, if pressed to be the third baseman in 2028 do you think has the biggest upside?" Goold said. "Nolan Gorman has the most experience, and probably Thomas Saggese of that group has the least. But would you entertain the notion of it being Thomas Saggese? Or would you go 'man, it probably needs to be JJ Wetherholt as the third baseman at that point in time and they're shopping for a second baseman?

"It's just a really interesting spot that they're in because when you go around the diamond, you can think of the future at every position and go 'okay, there's either somebody who is rising toward it,' or there's at least multiple options, and third is this fascinating position where you go 'man, they had Nolan Arenado there once, and now they have, what? Like, how does this work?'"

The Cardinals really don't have a clear cut favorite to take the starting third base job and run with it. Thomas Saggese may have the most upside at this point, but as Goold notes, it's not clear who is going to emerge from that group and be the third baseman of the future.

This means that in the future, the Cardinals may have to go out and find their new third baseman when they are ready to be a true contender again, and that may take a few years to figure out.

Nolan Arenado provided elite defense and even was an MVP candidate in 2022, but Gorman has been a far cry from what Arenado was able to bring to the table for several years. And beyond Gorman, they just don't have that clear cut favorite to take the job in the future.