Surprising Young Slugger Already Turning Heads For Cardinals After Red-Hot Start

The St. Louis Cardinals' offense has been impressive to open the 2023 campaign. 

Although the Cardinals enter their Wednesday matinee series finale against the Atlanta Braves sporting a 2-3 record, the club has been red-hot to open the season offensively. 

One player who has shined so far in the young season is second baseman and designated hitter, Nolan Gorman. The 22-year-old made his Major League Baseball debut with the club in 2022 and somewhat struggled and slashed .226/.300/.420 to go along with 14 home runs and 35 RBIs in 89 games. At one point Gorman was in the starting lineup but was sent down to Triple-A after inconsistent play. 

Gorman responded in a major way with an impressive spring and has been red-hot to open the 2023 season for St. Louis. The 22-year-old tied for the team lead with four home runs in spring training action and 13 RBIs and also slashed .288/.373/.538. The momentum has carried over to the regular season and Gorman entered Wednesday's tilt against the Braves with the third-highest batting average in all of baseball at .500 through four games.

Four games certainly is a small sample size, but Gorman has looked impressive. The young slugger currently is tied for the team lead with two home runs and is leading the club with six RBIs. Gorman also leads the club with a .647 on-base percentage and five walks.

Hopefully, he is able to maintain this level of play, because St. Louis certainly is going to need it. The Cardinals have dealt with a plethora of injuries already this season so Gorman's ascension has been even more important. At this point, there's no way to know for sure how Gorman will respond and it has only been four games, but the 22-year-old is showing some impressive flashes.