3 STL Cardinals still giving encouraging signs and 2 who are failing

4. Nolan Gorman has dropped after after a great start for the STL Cardinals

For almost the entire first two months of the season, Nolan Gorman was quietly one of the best bats in the Cardinals lineup. He was racking up extra-base hits and RBI and seemingly was helping to pick up the slack when guys like Nolan Arenado and Paul Goldschmidt were going through cold spells.

Having said that, one of the lingering worries for the 23-year-old was that he would come crashing down. After all, this was a guy who hit just .226 last year, though he did have a .721. There was no way he was going to be so much closer to a .300 hitter while still producing power, right?

Unfortunately, that worry has turned into the reality of the situation with Gorman.

In the last 15 days for the Cardinals, Gorman has struggled mightily. Not only has he struck out in 17 of his 41 at-bats over that span, but he also has just two extra-base hits and only three walks, good for a dismal slash line of .146/.200/.244 over that span.

It’s entirely reasonable that Gorman has improved from his pedestrian rookie season in 2022 and the regression we’re currently witnessing could be short-lived. Given the concern about the regression coming, though, and how stark the drop-off has been of late, though, it’s definitely a problem in the St. Louis lineup that Oli Marmol and fans will have to monitor closely.