Bernie’s Redbird Review: The Cardinals Must Play Nolan Gorman At 3rd Base In 2025. Then Leave Him Alone.

Assuming that the Cardinals complete a trade to find Nolan Arenado a new baseball address, the move will open the third-base position for a dude to be named later. But it’s really more than that. Arenado’s exit will open two infield spots for younger Cardinals.

By trading Arenado, the Cardinals will save payroll space. Sure. But it’s more important for them to open playing-time space for Arenado’s successor.

Here are some stats and opinions – with some saltiness mixed in.

1) Nolan Gorman must be the third baseman. I will be a jerk here. I will not debate this. There is no reason for a polite exchange of views. The 2025 season has been marketed as “creating a runway” for young guys to play, and (hopefully) lift off. President of baseball ops John Mozeliak has said he wants Gorman to get at 600 at-bats in 2025. I agree with Mozeliak on that. And for now I’ll trust that he’s speaking the truth. Because giving 600 at-bats to Gorman represents everything this season is supposed to be about for the Cardinals. And by posting Gorman at third base, that leaves second base open for rookie Thomas Saggese. Arenado leaves, and the Cardinals can give the 2B and 3B to players that are supposed to receive extensive experience in ’25. Otherwise, the Cardinals are just gaslighting their fans and media.

2) Gorman is the choice for obvious reasons. Third base is his natural position. This is where he played, extensively, while developing into a first-round talent in the 2018 draft. The high schooler was trained to be a third baseman, and was destined to eventually become STL’s starter there … and then the Cardinals acquired Arenado before the 2021 season, and Gorman was moved to second base. He’s been OK there for the most part but would probably do better at the corner.

This is from a scouting report filed by Matt Thompson in 2021: “Gorman can stick at third but won’t win any Gold Gloves. Sure-handed and will make all the routine plays with the occasional highlight. Good body control and foot work. Good at charging the ball and throwing on the run. Lacks the quick first step, but has enough range for the hot corner.”

If Gorman consistently hits for power, no one will care about Gold Gloves. If Gorman can convert his sensational barrel rate and sweet-spot prowess into a higher volume of home runs, then he doesn’t have to be Ken Boyer.

3) I don’t want to hear about moving Jordan Walker to third base just because he stood there for a while during his brief time in the minors. Good grief, the incompetent Cardinals already spun Walker’s head around … many times … by throwing him into right field for the first time without proper preparation. And he’s been lost out there. But if this team is serious about developing young talent, then the best thing to do is assign Jon Jay – the new coach and old Cardinal) – to work extensively with Walker.

Jay is smart. Jay is good. Walker will learn all he needs to know. Willie McGee tried. Walker displayed sharper instincts for a while, then resumed stumbling. This is a project for Jay, one of the smartest players Tony La Russa ever had here. Jay was added to the 2025 St. Louis coaching staff for multiple reasons – and Jordan Walker stands tall among those reasons. If Walker flops out there again, then it’s DH time.

4) Why are people lobbying for Brendan Donovan to play third base? Why lock him in there … which only serves to block Gorman out? What is the bleeping point of that? Donovan can play third base, sure. And he plays it well. But Donovan has extra value because of his versatility and capability to roam around the pasture and play five different positions. That is a rare talent, and the Cardinals must continue to put it to use.

In his MLB career for the Cardinals, Donovan has played 1,093 innings in left field, 205 innings in right field, 948 innings at second base, 270 innings at third base, 151 innings at first base, and 65 innings at shortstop. And he’s solid (or better) at all of them. The worst you can say is that he’s a little below average at 2B. Donovan’s effective work as a rover is why he won the NL Gold Glove for best utility player in 2022.

Besides, “playing the young guys” actually means playing the young guys. Donovan will turn 28 in January. He isn’t old, but he ain’t a kid. By utilizing “Donny” as a mobile defender who can take care of any one of those five sports depending on need at the time, it leaves plenty of “runway” for young guys to log the innings they need at their assigned position.

5) And that’s why you don’t fasten Donovan to second base, either. Saggese should get ample time there. When top prospect JJ Wetherholt arrives, quite possibly in 2025, young JJ can get reps at second base … and perhaps third base when Gorman is out of the lineup. Shortstop Masyn Winn will likely play more than any Cardinal in 2025, but when breather is necessary, Saggese can plug in at short. The Cardinals are hardly deep in the outfield, so it makes sense to have Donovan getting turns in left field and right. Donovan is there for the Cardinals if they need him to play anywhere else. Again, that’s his value.

The mere notion of giving up on Gorman after his horrendous crash (offensively) in 2024 is ludicrous. From the time of his big-league promotion early in 2022, until June 4 of the 2024 season, Gorman slugged .467, posted a good .783 OPS, walloped a homer every 15.8 at-bats, drove in a run every 6.1 at-bats, and performed 16 percent above league average offensively. What, you now want to place that in the dumpster, close the lid, and have YET ANOTHER former Cardinal get hauled away and become a star for a new team? Please.

In his first two seasons (2022-2023), Gorman had a matching age. He was 22 in ‘22, and 23 in ‘23. During the expansion era, which began in 1961, the only Cardinal to hit more home runs (41) than Gorman across the age 22-and-23 seasons was Albert Pujols (71.) The only guys to top Gorman’s .454 slugging percentage in their age 22-and-23 seasons were Pujols, Keith Hernandez, Ted Simmons and Randal Grichuk.

More: during the expansion era, Gorman had more home runs in his age 22 and 23 seasons than Kent Hrbek, Adrian Beltre, Dave Winfield, Frank Thomas, Anthony Rizzo, Greg Luzinski, Dave Kingman, Carlos Correa, Ryan Braun and Nomar Garciaparra.

You don’t lob all of that into the landfill just because Gorman flopped terribly over his final 182 big-league at-bats of 2024. And moving him to his original home at third base will give Gorman fewer things to worry about. That’s the working theory, anyway.

Gorman must cut down on his whiff-swing count and strikeouts. He must stop looking at so many called strikes. Four-seam fastballs, up in the zone, were kryptonite to Gorman over the final three-plus months of the season. He solved that problem in 2023 – hitting 27 homers with a .478 slug – but relapsed in ‘24. That wasn’t ideal, but there’s still plenty of hope for Gorman, who has only 1,179 major-league plate appearances.

New Cardinals batting coach Brant Brown’s keep-it-simple approach should help reset Gorman’s mind to improve the slugger’s strike-zone aptitude. I’m not sitting here saying that Gorman will turn into the intimidating power source the Cardinals envisioned, but in the youth-oriented 2025, it’s important for the Cardinals to let him play and let him be. Don’t overthink this.

Thanks for reading …

–Bernie