3 surprises about St. Louis Cardinals Wild Card roster
By Kevin Henry
1. Nolan Gorman
When the Wild Card roster was announced, there were plenty of people inside the press box at Busch Stadium wondering exactly why Nolan Gorman was included on it.
St. Louis has plenty of middle infield depth and the 22-year-old Gorman has had a tough rookie season, slashing just .226/.300/.420, but smacking 14 home runs and driving in 35 runs. However, Gorman has just one homer in his last 15 games as his slash line has dipped to .154/.214/.308 during that stretch.
He also hasn’t played in a game for the Cardinals since September 18, a day when he went 0-for-2 against the Cincinnati Reds, part of a 1-for-17 end to his MLB season before being sent to Triple-A Memphis. He did, however, finish the regular season on the taxi squad with the Cardinals in Pittsburgh.
The Cardinals certainly believe in the future of Gorman with the organization, so perhaps the Wild Card roster placement is a way to give him some postseason experience that will pay off down the road. That may be one of the biggest reasons why Gorman was selected over someone like outfielder/first baseman Alec Burleson when the final roster selections were made.
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