Bernie On The Cardinals: Walker And Gorman Are Teammates In Memphis. That Ain’t The Way It Was Supposed To Be.

This just in: The Cardinals are still the Cardinals.

After rushing to give Jordan Walker a return ticket to Triple A Memphis because he didn’t hit like Rogers Hornsby in his 12 plate appearances during a peculiar one-week stay with the Cardinals, the front office finally noticed that Nolan Gorman was having, um, difficulties at the plate.

On Wednesday, president of baseball operations John Mozeliak reunited Walker and Gorman as teammates.

In Memphis.

One of my favorite towns, Memphis. Home of Blues, Soul, Rock ‘N’ Roll – and failing young hitters sent to Tennessee by the Cardinals to rebuild their plate approach, swing, and confidence. swings. Gorman and Walker can wolf down some barbeque, watch the famous ducks parade at The Peabody Hotel, and maybe make time to visit Graceland.

Hey, it’s a nice retreat after spending time at the Heartbreak Hotel in St. Louis – aka Busch Stadium.

The 2024 Cardinals offense was to be centered around Paul Goldschmidt, Nolan Arenado, Gorman and Walker. Not entirely, or course. A deep lineup would be fortified by Willson Contreras, Brendan Donovan, Lars Nootbaar, etc.

But most of all there would be a strong link connecting the established stars to the rising stars. That was the plan. And the plan went to smithereens.

Goldy and Arenado smashed into the aging curve, sooner and harder than anticipated. And that’s dangerous and ominous.

In 2023, Walker and Gorman combined for 42 home runs, 36 doubles and a .462 slugging percentage. Gorman was about to turn 24. Walker was nearing age 22.

After having two big pillars in place in Goldschmidt and Arenado, the Cardinals would add two more pillars in Walker and Gorman. Strength for the future!

The old dudes got older in a hurry and there’s no way to turn back the clock. The young dudes didn’t age and mature fast enough, and there is no way to press a button and make all of their slumps disappear.

Wait, can’t the team’s batting coaches get Walker and Gorman back on track?

That’s funny.

What batting coaches?

It’s sad to say, but Walker and Gorman will get more guidance and care from the Triple A staff.

As for Goldschmidt and Arenado … Well, there’s no way to undo the aging process. There is no fountain of youth at Kiener Plaza.

In 2022, Goldy-Nado combined for 65 homers and 218 RBIs, and both had a slugging percentage well above .500 Goldschmidt won the NL MVP award and Arenado finished third.

In 2024, with only 37 games remaining, Goldschmidt and Arenado have combined for 32 homers and 104 RBIs, and both proud men are slugging under .400.

The Cardinals have gotten themselves stuck in a weird place, somewhere in the generational divide.

They had the young and the restless in Gorman and Walker.

They had the old and powerless in Goldschmidt and Arenado.

The result is a St. Louis offense that ranks next to last in the National League in runs scored per game. It is an offense that couldn’t hit effectively with runners in scoring even if the home-plate umpire agreed to call no strikes.

What the Cardinals have done with Walker is baseball malpractice. But with Gorman, it’s been the opposite. This particular patient was whiffing and wheezing – and this baseball operation left him to wither and worsen.

Since June 5, Gorman has been on the short list of the worst hitters in the majors. Here’s where Gorman ranked among 241 MLB hitters that had at least 150 plate appearances since that date:

• .170 batting average, No. 236
• .239 onbase percentage, No. 239
• .291 slugging percentage, No. 236
• .511 Onbase + Slugging, No. 235
• Strikeout rate: 40.3 percent, No. 241

Per wRC+, Gorman’s offensive performance since June 5 was 58 percent below the league average. (And yes, again, the team let this continue.) And his five home runs during the corresponding time was tied for 157th on that list of 241 hitters. The left-handed slugger was increasingly overmatched by right-handed pitchers.

There’s a helluva lot to fix here. Here’s a sampling of the troubles, with all stats starting on June 5 and ending with Gorman’s merciful demotion.

+ Four-seam fastballs: .136 average, .46.3% strikeout rate, 36.5% whiff-swing rate.

+ Offspeed pitches: 133 average, 35.5% strikeout rate, 47% whiff-swing rate.

+ Curveballs: 53.3% strikeout rate.

+ Sliders/sweepers: .159 average, 50% strikeout rate, 47.4% whiff-swing rate.

The Cardinals let Gorman’s unnerving freefall go on for a stretch that encompassed two months and 16 days.

“Obviously, it’s a game of production up here and at some point, you’ve got to consistently produce, or we have to find someone who can,” Mozeliak told reporters Wednesday.

Way too slow on this, Mo. You guys were too quick in giving up on Walker, and too slow in realizing that Gorman was a desperate young hitter, desperately in need of a mental break from chronic failure. And this won’t dispel the belief that the Cardinals have no clue what they’re doing with young hitters. And before anyone hollers, “what about Alec Burleson,” I give you two words: Matt Carpenter. He’s the guy who unlocked Burly’s power with excellent advice. Perhaps Carpenter can take over as hitting coach.

Gorman’s hitting-clinic sessions at Memphis will should help him. This overdue move will definitely help the Cardinals. Gorman wasn’t turning into a semi-automatic out, posting a horrid .209 onbase percentage and .220 slug in his last 13 games. And he struck out in five of his last 11 at-bats.

This opening means more second-base time for Brendan Donovan, and more outfield time and at-bats for Tommy Pham. And the Cardinals may replot center field by using Lars Nootbaar there more often. The time away from the Cardinals will be healthy for Gorman. Who knows? He may even encounter a coach down there who can help him identify pitches and get on top of high fastballs. See? I’m trying to be hopeful.

This much doesn’t change: the organization’s startling neglect of Gorman was just as awful as the haste to shove Walker back to Memphis.

Thanks for reading …

–Bernie

A 2023 inductee into the Missouri Sports Hall of Fame, Bernie has provided informed opinions and perspective on St. Louis sports through his columns, radio shows and podcasts since 1985.

Please check out the new Bernie Miklasz Show channel on YouTube. And thank you for subscribing. Here’s the link:

https://www.youtube.com/@TheBernieShow

Please follow Bernie on X @b_miklasz and Threads @miklaszb

For weekly Cards talk, listen to the “Seeing Red” podcast with Will Leitch and Miklasz. It’s available on Apple, Spotify, or where you get your podcasts. Follow @seeingredpod on X for a direct link.

Stats used in my baseball columns are sourced from FanGraphs, Baseball Reference, Statcast, StatHead, Baseball Savant, Baseball Prospectus, Brooks Baseball Net, and Sports Info Solutions unless otherwise noted.