Young Cardinals Slugger Needs More Opportunities To Prove Himself

The St. Louis Cardinals are performing much better than expected this season. Instead of being out of contention early, the Cardinals are very much in the race at 36-32.

Better yet, one player in particular may be starting to turn the corner after a rough start to the season. St. Louis has seen some better at-bats from second baseman Nolan Gorman.

He is still hitting just .220, but he has also shown some more power in recent weeks.

However, he hasn't quite been getting his fair share of opportunities. Josh Jacobs of Redbird Rants stated that in order to prove himself, Gorman is going to need more chances.

"I mean no disrespect to [Ryan] Vilade, but at this point in his career, he is not someone who should be taking opportunities away from someone like Gorman," Jacobs wrote. "He should be the break glass in case of emergency option. Instead, he has received four starts over that stretch, pinch hit for Gorman during games, and been used as a pinch hitter over Gorman in other circumstances."

If the Cardinals want to see what they have with their young players, they are going to have to give Gorman more opportunities. He has struggled against left-handed pitching, but this is the year to find out if the young slugger can put it all together and overcome his struggles against lefties.

2025 was meant to be a year in which the Cardinals gave runway to their younger players, and with Jordan Walker on the injured list, now is the perfect time to see if Gorman can unleash his full potential.