Bernie’s Bird Bytes: Nolan Gorman Is Doing Well At Memphis, But Why Can’t The Cardinals Fix Hitters Up Here?

BIRD BYTES

1. In his last five games for Triple A Memphis, Nolan Gorman has larruped four home runs, batted .333, and slugged 1.000. He also walked three times and struck out only twice in the five games.

2. Gorman has made progress, striking out only 11 times in 67 plate appearances (16.4%) since being sent to Memphis. In 107 games for the Cardinals this season, Gorman had a horrendous strikeout rate of 37.6 percent.

3. Isn’t it something, the way struggling young hitters like Gorman have to go to Memphis to work with the staff there to cure their problems – but no one on major-league staff has any idea of what to do. It’s absolutely embarrassing.

4. In Thursday’s 6-1 win over Cincinnati, Winn batted first and Alec Burleson hit second. They had a good day at the top of the lineup, going 3 for 5 with a solo home run by Winn. This was a change. Before Thursday, when Winn and Burly started the game and batted No. 1 and 2, the top-lineup tandem had batted only .234 in 18 games – with only one homer, seven RBIs, and seven extra-base hits in 234 at-bats.

5. Some encouraging news. MLB.com ranked the top farm systems with the best set of pitching prospects, and the Cardinals came in at No. 3 on a list of 11 teams in an analysis done by Sam Dykstra, Jim Callis and Jonathan Mayo.

“No. 82 overall prospect Quinn Mathews has been arguably the most effective pitcher in Minor League Baseball this season as he’s led the Minors in strikeouts (193) while climbing four levels in his first full season, and he doesn’t even have the highest ceiling among arms in his own organization,” they wrote. “That distinction belongs to No. 50 Tink Hence, who has elite pure stuff as he looks at a potential debut in 2025. Tekoah Roby and Cooper Hjerpe have battled injuries this summer but have rotation upside, while Michael McGreevy and Gordon Graceffo have already served as organizational depth with the chance to be more next spring.”

6. That’s good to know. But Hence had to leave his Wednesday start after 1 and ⅓ innings with an unspecified injury. He can’t stay healthy. Hence has averaged a strong 12.3 strikeouts per nine innings for Double A Springfield. But he’s pitched only 79 and ⅔ innings this season.

7. In the first two games of the low Class A playoffs, No. 7 overall draft choice J.J. Wetherholt went 4 for 8 with a homer, three RBIs and two walks against Daytona. In 31 games for the Palm Beach Cardinals (including playoffs), Wetherholt has hit .310 with a .419 onbase percentage and .434 slug. Will we see him in the majors next season?

8. Here’s The Athletic on Cardinals rookie infielder Thomas Saggese: “Talk to baseball folks about Saggese, and a few phrases start to become themes: “throwback,” … “old school,” … “plays the right way,” … “old soul,” … “that’s my guy” and “glue guy” … are some (we) heard on repeat from front office members and former teammates.”

9. Nolan Arenado is batting .194 with a soft .306 slugging percentage in September and has two RBIs in 42 plate appearances over his 10 games.

10. The Cardinals are 7-4 this month despite their offense being held to four or fewer runs in eight of 11 games.

11. St. Louis is 13-8 since Aug. 21 but couldn’t get into contention. The Cardinals needed to catch three teams to snatch the No. 3 wild card. But since Aug. 21 those three teams have gone 15-5 (Mets), 13-7 (Cubs) and 12-9 (Braves.)

12. In September, Tommy Edman has four home runs and 10 RBIs in 10 games and 40 at-bats for the Dodgers. And in September, Paul Goldschmidt and Arenado have combined for two homers and six RBIs in 20 games and 76 at-bats.

13. Former Cardinals starting pitcher Jack Flaherty is 5-1 with a 2.61 ERA in his first seven starts for the Dodgers. Before he was traded to LA, Flaherty had a 2.86 ERA in 18 starts for the Tigers.

That’s it for today, and 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.

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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.