ST. LOUIS – Could it be that the incredible turnaround in production from Jordan Walker in 2026 is helping spur the Cardinals to be more patient with struggling third baseman Nolan Gorman?

Gorman, 26, just went through a month of May where he hit just ,192 with two homers and 11 RBI. Even more troubling than that is that Gorman’s strikeout rate climbed to 38.4 percent in 78 at bats in May. Gorman came into Tuesday’s game against the Rangers in a 2-for-33 slump that has included 19 strikeouts. On Tuesday, Gorman struck out in his first at bat after the first two of the second inning had reached, but he bounced back by homering to the opposite field in the fourth inning.

Seeing the 24-year-old Walker go from a .215 batting average and a .584 OPS with six homers and 11 RBI in 2025 to .284/.892 with 15 homers and 43 RBI in 2026 is certainly playing into the club’s continued faith that Gorman can pull out of the swing-and-miss slump that consumed him over May.

“We have to remember where we were at a point where a lot of the outside noise … was like, ‘What do we really have in Walker?’ Marmol said, referring to Walker’s struggles from the 2023-25 seasons. “So, if that’s the case (now with Gorman), I’d rather my staff stay head down and try to figure out a way to unlock this.”

Also factoring into the Cardinals’ decision to stand by a struggling Gorman is that the team doesn’t have a readily available replacement at third base. Ramon Urias, who split time with Gorman early in the season, isn’t expected to begin his Triple-A rehab assignment until this weekend after missing the past 22 games with a tendon injury in his right elbow. The team does not consider Thomas Saggese or Jose Fermin as long-term replacement options at third base, while there is some organizational concern over the defense that Triple-A standout Blaze Jordan might offer at third.

Jordan, 23, has hit .328 with nine homers, 17 doubles and 30 RBI in 49 games with Triple-A Memphis. He’s played 13 games at first base and 26 games at third base – and hasn’t committed a defensive error at either position.

Moved to third base full time for the first time in his MLB career, Gorman has been a pleasant surprise defensively and has shown off vastly improved range to his left. Gorman came into Tuesday having committed just three errors in 315 1/3 innings played in 41 games at third base.

Oddly, Gorman has had much more success offensively when he starts at third base as opposed to being the Cardinals’ DH. In his 37 games as a third baseman, Gorman has posted a slash line of .238/.319/.405/.724 with three doubles, six homers, 20 RBI and a 31.9 percent strikeout rate. Conversely, in his 15 games as the DH, he has slashed .137/.237/.157/.394 with a double, no homers, five RBI and a strikeout rate of 28.8 percent. In an effort to keep him from overanalyzing plate appearances, Gorman no longer watched back at bats between innings.

“I can’t watch video during the game,” Gorman said. "(Watching in-game video) throws me for a loop. In ’23, I got to a point coming up to the All-Star Game where I was struggling and searching for stuff. I came back and said, ‘I’m not watching video at all during games, and I ended that year pretty well. So, I just stay away from watching video in games.”

Gorman made it to the big leagues in 2022, but he spent time in Triple-A late in the season. He hit a career-best 27 homers to go with 17 doubles in 2023, but he saw his strikeouts soar to 151 in 2024. He cut his strikeouts to 136 while hitting 14 homers and splitting time at second base and third base in 2025.

In 1,591 at bats over his career, Gorman has smashed 81 homers while striking out 605 times.

“It’s the things that we talk about when he’s doing well – less chase. Marmol said there are mechanical issues that need to improve with Gorman’s swing plane, but the bigger issue is him carrying over his work and the corrections made into game situations.

For now, the Cardinals will remain patient because of the pop he displayed again on Tuesday night.

“This isn’t a matter of him not knowing what is causing (swing and miss to increase) as much as him being able to execute in a game setting,” Marmol said.

“In the same way that Jordan has started to show that he can close the gaps between those weeks rather than months of downfall and you wonder what you can unlock (with Gorman) that shortens the amount t of times that he goes into these stretches with tons of homers and tons of strikeouts. We have to figure out what allows him to make more contact and allows his above-average power to play more often?”      

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