For years, the Cardinals have pinned much of their hopes for success on the power potential of young sluggers Nolan Gorman and Jordan Walker. With both of them hitting, the Cardinals are showcasing a lengthy lineup capable of doing damage.
ST. LOUIS – For three-plus seasons, the Cardinals have pinned much of their hopes for success on potentially hitting it big with young sluggers Nolan Gorman and Jordan Walker.
Of course, it’s early in the 2026 season – and small sample sizes can be dangerous when used as tools of judgement – but the Cardinals have to be excited about how well both Gorman and Walker are swinging the bats through four games.
Gorman, who was given the chance to play every following the trading of star third baseman Nolan Arenado, blasted a 419-foot home run on Monday in the Cardinals 4-2 loss to the New York Mets at Busch Stadium on Monday night.
“It’s been good so far, but I’m more focused on wins,” said Gorman, whose two homers and five RBI sit atop the statistical standings for the Cardinals through four games. “Whatever I can do to help us win is a plus. I’m making some good swing decisions, I’m being on time and I’m putting good swings on the ball.”
For Gorman, it was his second home run in as many nights for the Cardinals. The powerful lefty slugger made Clay Holmes pay for hanging an 87.6 mph cutter and smoked a ball that left the bat at a scorching 110.3 mph. As it turns out, Gorman’s blast knocked out Holmes, who left after limiting the Cards to four hits and two earned runs over 5 2/3 innings of work.
“(Holmes) attacked (teammate Alec Burleson) the same way with the first two pitches and then threw him a changeup, so I had the changeup in the back of my mind, and I was able to react (to the cutter),” Gorman said. “He located (the cutter on the previous pitch) better than the one that I hit. He wasn’t throwing it much in the game because he didn’t need it.”
Walker, 23, also stayed hot at the plate by reaching on an infield single in the second inning. Walker came into Monday having recorded four hits – including a homer and two doubles – in the season-opening series against the Rays.
Gorman, 25, has homers on half of his four hits and he’s been able to avoid strikeout troubles thus far this season. In 14 at bats, he has fanned just three times.
“He’s not trying to do a whole lot and he’s staying within himself,” Cardinals’ manager Oliver Marmol said. “But there’s still enough power there and when he makes contact the ball goes. We’re seeing a much better version of him with putting the ball in play and not a ton of swing and miss. When he’s in that mode, it’s a really solid at bat.”
Gorman starting to shrink the swing and miss
Strikeouts have largely defined many of Gorman’s struggles since he made it to the big leagues in 2022 after being the club’s top overall prospect. He hit 14 homers as a rookie, but he was ultimately demoted to Triple-A because of 103 strikeouts in 89 games.
In 2023, he got off to a torrid start and showed some of his massive power potential by smacking 27 homers to go with 17 doubles. However, by Gorman’s third season, strikeout woes hit him hard with him whiffing 151 times in 107 games. He improved upon his MLB-worst strikeout rate of 37.6 percent in 2024 to 33.8 percent in 2025.
Some of his issues from the past two seasons could have been attributed to him having to split time at second base and third base – something that’s no longer an issue with Arenado now playing in Arizona.
“(Playing every day) helps, but I’m just trying to help this team get some Ws,” Gorman said.
The early-season improvements of Walker and Gorman have allowed the Cardinals to lengthen their lineup and add to the number of hitters capable of doing damage – something that helped them rally for victories late in the first two games of the season. Gorman said he loves the pluckiness of the Cardinals hitters and their willingness to take their walks so others can do damage with runners in scoring position.
“That’s huge because we’ve got a gritty team,” Gorman said. “It’s going to be a lot of fun for 162 games. We’ve shown that fire throughout the whole game and we’ve just got to keep it up.”
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