Nolan Gorman May Be Lighting His Path Back to St. Louis

The Cardinals may have another option soon.

May 19, 2026; St. Louis, Missouri, USA; St. Louis Cardinals third baseman Nolan Gorman (16) hits a two run home run against the Pittsburgh Pirates during the sixth inning at Busch Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Jeff Curry-Imagn Images | IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect

The St. Louis Cardinals have essentially fallen out of postseason contention at this point in the season. They were sellers at the trade deadline and landed some intriguing prospects for their tradable pieces.

Chaim Bloom has shown more of a willingness to make changes when things aren't going well than John Mozeliak did towards the end of his career in St. Louis. One change he made in June was calling up Blaze Jordan and sending Nolan Gorman down to Triple-A Memphis. Gorman has not returned to the big leagues since then.

However, he hit a home run on Tuesday night for the Redbirds, and may be lighting a path towards a return to St. Louis soon.

Nolan Gorman shows off power stroke at Triple-A

May 1, 2026; St. Louis, Missouri, USA; St. Louis Cardinals third baseman Nolan Gorman (16) hits a solo home run against the Los Angeles Dodgers in the first inning at Busch Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Joe Puetz-Imagn Images | IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect

Gorman struggled mightily with the Cardinals in 2025, and those struggles reared their ugly head again in 2026. At the time of his demotion, the 26-year-old infielder was slashing .194/.279/.318 with seven home runs, 26 RBI and a .598 OPS.

However, the fact that he homered on Tuesday night should be encouraging for the Cardinals. Their offense has been cold lately, and perhaps it could use a spark from a new face, or rather a familiar face in this case.

Gorman's batting average still isn't very good down in Triple-A, but he still does have a nice power stroke, and if he can rediscover that, then the Cardinals could have another option to use at third base if they aren't getting much from Jordan and Jose Fermin.

Lately, the entire offense has been in a dry spell. Jordan and Fermin's stats are better at the moment, but perhaps when rosters expand come September, Gorman could find himself back with the big-league club.

The Cardinals likely aren't going to make the postseason, so it can't hurt to potentially give him somme more opportunities to try and gain some momentum going into 2027.

He was one of their best hitters in 2023 and 2024, but has not been the same since then. But maybe some more time in Triple-A will get him to a good place and allow the Cardinals to reassess in the coming weeks as the 2026 season winds down.

Gorman still has a lot of potential with his power from the left side of the plate, so it's certainly worth considering promoting him later in the year if he keeps hitting home runs in the minors.