JUPITER, Fla. ¨C To get back to where he was in a 2023 season when he hit a team-best 27 home runs and looked like the slugger of the future for the Cardinals, Nolan Gorman admitted he has taken an almost counterintuitive approach to his swing and the confidence he carries to the plate this spring.
Down and not up, at least in terms of his swing, is at the forefront of the 24-year-old infielder¡¯s brain these days. As for the usually mild-mannered Gorman¡¯s confidence, he said it emanates not just from his hits or homers, but instead from the work that he puts in long before games.
Sure, it¡¯s different from most. But it¡¯s the kind of approach that Gorman hopes will help him get past a forgettable 2024 and back to a time when he looked like the most promising hitter in the Cardinals¡¯ system.
¡°I think confidence comes from preparation, and I've done everything that I can to prepare for this season,¡± said Gorman, whose Cardinals beat the Blue Jays, 9-5, on Saturday at Roger Dean Chevrolet Stadium.
¡°Confidence is a feeling that doesn't come from anything other than preparation. It¡¯s how you feel and how you carry yourself, and not something that comes from getting three hits or hitting home runs. You¡¯ve still got to do it the next day, and you¡¯ve got to prepare the same way. You can't slack off just because you had a good game. I think confidence is in the preparation.¡±
Gorman has been putting in prep work since early in the offseason, when he and new hitting coach Brant Brown formed a tight relationship. When Brown learned that the two of them lived just streets apart in suburban Phoenix in the offseason, the two hung out at the coach¡¯s house, and they hit together several times a week. That work has carried over to this spring, when Gorman has grown even closer to a coach who has been by his side for support.
¡°He got to know me really well this offseason, so it's easy for him to have trust in me and know what I'm working on because we got so familiar with each other,¡± Gorman said.
Much of the Cardinals¡¯ hopes for a dramatically improved offense in 2025 centers around bounce-back seasons from 22-year-old outfielder Jordan Walker and Gorman. Both struggled to make consistent contact in ¡®24, and they wound up spending significant stretches at Triple-A Memphis in search of swing improvements. Walker was back in the lineup on Saturday for the first time in 11 days after suffering irritation in his left knee.
If Walker and Gorman can show the promise both flashed in 2023, it could lengthen a St. Louis lineup that struggled mightily with runners in scoring position a year ago.
¡°They¡¯re the ones who could drive that power column or have the ability to, so getting them opportunities is what it¡¯s about,¡± said Cardinals manager Oliver Marmol, whose organization has stated that getting Walker and Gorman 500 at-bats apiece is a goal for the season.
¡°These are guys who have tasted what the big leagues are like, and they understand how the league has pitched to them and treated them. Now, they need to make adjustments to flip it back on the league.¡±
Known for years for his light-tower power, Gorman¡¯s big adjustment this offseason is to think more about hitting down on the baseball instead of trying to lift it for home runs. In the past, his uppercut swing played a major role in his struggles to get to high pitches, and it certainly contributed to his strikeout rate soaring to an MLB-worst 37.6% last season. This season, Gorman wants to concentrate on swinging more down on the ball ¨C something that will keep his bat in the zone longer.
¡°I'm sure a lot of people out there have heard the older guys say, ¡®Swing down, swing down,¡¯ something Albert [Pujols] talked about, and [Alex Rodriguez] and Barry Bonds,¡± said Gorman, who still hit 19 home runs in a rocky 2024. ¡°My swing lifts the ball naturally. When I [try to lift the ball], it becomes too much. I kind of went the wrong way with what I was trying to do [in ¡®24). It was a good learning moment for me to be able to get back to what I do best.¡±
One thing Gorman does best is keeping a level head. While some might press following a frustrating 2024, Gorman is again going the other way.
¡°There are high expectations, but there's no reason to put pressure on yourself when you're playing a game,¡± he said. ¡°You're obviously competing for your well-being and your life, but the past year or future years, they¡¯re all the same to me.¡±