Gorman lets his bat do the talking

This story was excerpted from John Denton’s Cardinals Beat newsletter. To read the full newsletter, click here. And subscribe to get it regularly in your inbox.

ST. LOUIS -- On one hand, 23-year-old Nolan Gorman is so unassuming and mild-mannered that he didn’t dare speak to rapper Nelly on Saturday night at Busch Stadium, even though the St. Louis icon was seated right next to the Cardinals on-deck circle. Heck, Gorman even uses Nelly’s “Ride Wit Me” as his walk-up song, but he left the superstar socializing to teammate Paul Goldschmidt and instead focused on crushing baseballs.

On the other hand, Gorman has a supreme confidence bubbling just below the surface of his staid and even-keeled persona. He knows that he not only belongs at the big league level, but he has the skill set that is quickly helping him become one of the game’s top sluggers.

Some might be surprised by Gorman’s ascension to leading the NL in slugging (.640) and OPS+ (180), but the understated Gorman is completely comfortable in big spots and smashing game-winning homers -- as he’s done twice in recent games against Red Sox closer Kenley Jansen and Dodgers reliever Victor Rodriguez.

Gorman usually speaks in a monotone voice and is often quick to dismiss his own exploits, but he does occasionally give some insight into the inner confidence that fuels his mammoth power and his belief that he belongs. Know this: Gorman has been the best player on just about every team he’s ever been on, whether it was when he was a three-time all-state performer in high school in Arizona, a prep All-American who won home run derbies in MLB parks such as Wrigley Field and Marlins Park or as the first-round pick steadily rising through the Cardinals' Minor League system.

Thriving now in the heart of the Cardinals order -- and occupying the high-rent district between Goldschmidt and Nolan Arenado -- wasn’t just part of the plan for Gorman; it’s the only plan, he stressed.

“Like I’ve said, there is no backup plan for me. This is what I’m here to do and that’s always been my mindset,” Gorman said confidently. “Everyone’s goal is to play this game as long as possible and be great at it, too. That’s what I want.”

Gorman also wants to be an everyday player who is in the lineup regardless of who is on the mound for the opponent. The Cardinals withheld him from facing lefties early on, but recently relented to try to get his prodigious bat up more often and started him on Thursday against Dodgers ace Julio Urías. All he did was single sharply and smash a long home run. On Saturday, the Dodgers walked Goldschmidt to get the lefty-lefty matchup they thought would be favorable. All Gorman did was hit the ball 400 feet for an eighth-inning home run that broke a 3-3 tie.

That smash was Gorman’s 11th this season when a pitcher left the ball over the heart of the plate, tying him with home run champion Aaron Judge for second in “heart of the zone” homers, per Statcast. Also, he has an NL-best seven go-ahead homers, only one behind Judge, MLB’s leader with eight. Gorman is calm under pressure and his uncanny success in those spots aren’t coincidences, Cards manager Oliver Marmol said.

“There’s a lot of randomness in this sport, but I will say there's a certain heartbeat that allows you to have more success in those situations,” Marmol said of Gorman’s steeliness. “There are certain guys that run toward the tough moments, the tough at-bats and the tough pitch to be made, and there are people that run away from it. So, there is something to that [clutch gene] in my opinion.”

Besides Gorman’s ability to smash baseballs 400 feet, the trait that Marmol likes best about the young player is how he doesn’t let one at-bat -- good or bad -- bleed into the next. Last June, when the Cardinals were playing at Wrigley Field, Gorman struck out in his two at-bats and Marmol tried lightening the mood by cracking to the slugger about how bad he stunk that day. Gorman, Marmol recalled, didn’t smile, didn’t frown and didn’t blink. What he did do was homer in his next at-bat.

“He moves on to the next thing pretty quickly and he's not emotionally tied to one result,” Marmol said. “That's hard to do in this game because usually, fans and people will want to tie you to the last thing you did. Your ability to not buy into that is extremely important. If you're anchored to, ‘This is who I am regardless of what other people are saying,’ that's a good trait to have.”

Gorman, who went to work after a poor finish to his rookie season in 2022, has plenty of good traits. The best one of all, apparently, is knowing he’s right where he belongs.