St. Louis Cardinals Top Prospects: #3

Light-tower power. Yep, that is the best way to describe Nolan Gorman. Many scouts garde his power on a 80 grade scale between 60-70. He may be the big bat the Cardinals have desired since Albert Pujols. Obviously I know Dylan Carlson is next Cardinal Great and maybe just maybe he could be the middle of the order bat the Cards seek but he’s an overall great hitter, who is more of a 30 home run hitter. Gorman is a bat that could hit 40 home runs in a season and maybe with the juice ball hit 50. Gorman’s swing is so beautiful and makes the common fan drool. He’s a top prospect in baseball and has the potential to be a top 30. At this very moment, I have Herrera ahead of him in the rankings because I think Herrea has the Yadi impact that could change the organization for 15 years. Nothing against Gorman, I just think Carlson and Herrera are “can’t miss” prospects and I also believe Gorman is, but he needs to improve his plate discipline and on base skills. I get it, he’s 19 years old and I really shouldn’t be too worried, he’s going to grow into a more polished hitter and the thought of him acquiring a higher walk-rate while lowering his strikeout rate is exciting. He’s a special-raw talent that the Cardinals were so lucky to draft at the spot they did in 2018. They ended up getting two of the most prized possessions from the 2018 draft after recently acquiring Matthew Liberatore, who happened to be Gorman’s lifelong friend. Gorman is a determined and driven person, so there’s no doubt in my mind he’ll be able to grow as a hitter. He’s defensively average and could stay at the position for a while but he profiles more as a future left fielder or a first baseman. Look, I wanna be real with you guys. Nolan Gorman is the type of player that will get a lot of hype and deserve it. He’s the type of player that will be a superstar and will be a face of the game, but he has to continue to grow as a player and he will. For the time being his potential is what will drive his stock. I think this year he will “breakout” and become that player that's a top 20 prospect in the game for a couple years. He won’t be on the team until 2022 or even 2023 if he progresses, so don’t get too excited, it’ll take a minute for him to come up. But when he does… oh boy he’s gonna be fun to watch.

2020 Prediction:

Start the year in Peoria(A) or maybe Palm Beach (A+) and if all goes well finishes the year in Springfield(AA).

2020 Stat Line:

.278/.345./.450 with 31 homers and 21 doubles.

Comp:

His floor is Jake Lamb, which quite honestly is a good thing. His ceiling is a left-handed Josh Donaldson. At this moment I’d say I’d project him to be a left handed Evan Longoria.

- Jeff Wells (@mlb_trades on twitter)