Gorman a star on the rise in St. Louis

In the category of young players to watch out for in 2023, we present for your consideration Nolan Gorman.

Indeed, in their 23-year-old second baseman/designated hitter, the St. Louis Cardinals look like they have a bona fide power bat to serve as a lefty-swinging complement to their slugging righty superstars Paul Goldschmidt and Nolan Arenado.

Through 19 April games, the Phoenix native was hitting .316 with five home runs, 16 RBIs, an on-base percentage of .403 and an OPS of 1.052. His season highlight so far came on April 19, when he came off the bench to pinch-hit a grand slam homer at Busch Stadium in the Cards’ 14-5 rout of the Arizona Diamondbacks.

At 6 feet 1 inch and 210 pounds, Gorman has the size and powerful lefty swing that any team would love in a young slugger. And this season, he’s improved on his tendencies to chase balls out of the strike zone, resulting in an increase in his walk rate (13.4 percent in 2023 versus 9 percent in his rookie campaign last year) and a decrease in his strikeout rate (23.9 percent versus 32.9 percent).

Of course, all this comes with the caveat that “it’s still early” and his numbers will certainly come back to earth. But at this point, Gorman appears to be a player with a bright future ahead of him.

Gorman and the Cardinals can be seen on national TV Sunday May 14, when they close out a three-game series against the Boston Red Sox at Fenway Park in a contest airing on ESPN.

Full name: Nolan Brian

Gorman

Birth date: May 10, 2000

Birthplace: Phoenix

Height/weight: 6 feet, 1 inch/210 pounds

Teams: St. Louis Cardinalss (2022-present)

Position: Second base, designated hitter

Bats/throws: Left/right No.: 16

Honors and achievements: Won a gold medal with Team USA in 2017 at the Under-18 Baseball World Cup; career stats

(106 games) – .241 average with 19 homers, 53 RBIs, 50 runs, an on-base percentage of .318 and OPS of .777

Did you know: Gorman was the first player born in the year 2000 to be drafted by an MLB team.

Friday

7 p.m. ESPN Conference Final: Teams

TBA. The latest hockey action from across the NHL.

Saturday

7 p.m. TNT Conference Final: Teams TBA. The latest hockey action from across the NHL.

HORSE RACING

Saturday

3:30 p.m. WEEK WMAQ 148th Preakness Stakes The second race of thoroughbred horse racing’s Triple Crown is contested for the 148th time.

MOTORCYCLE RACING

Monday

11:30 p.m. NBCSCH AMA Supercross Series Monster Energy Series, Round 17. From Rice-Eccles Stadium in Salt Lake City.

RUGBY

Sunday

9 p.m. NBCSCH Premiership Rugby Saracens vs. Northampton Saints. Semifinal.

SKIING

Sunday

11:30 a.m. ESPN X Games Breathtaking action from the X Games with action from events like snowboarding and extreme skiing.

9 p.m. ESPN2 X Games Breathtaking action from the X Games with action from events like snowboarding and extreme skiing.

SOCCER

Sunday

10:30 a.m. USA Premier League Soccer Arsenal vs. Brighton & Hove Albion. Arsenal contests Brighton & Hove Albion at Emirates Stadium in matchround 36 of the Premier League. In last season’s exact fixture Leandro Trossard opened the scoring for the Seagulls in a 2-1 win.

Sportsquiz

Trossard could line up for the Gunners in this game.

1:55 p.m. ESPN Spanish Primera Division Soccer Espanyol vs. Barcelona. From RCDE Stadium in Cornellá de Llobregat, Barcelona, Spain.

Monday

2 p.m. USA Premier League Soccer Leicester City vs. Liverpool. Leicester City plays Liverpool at King Power Stadium in Premier League matchround 36. In the Foxes’ Premier League winning season of 2015/16 the Reds were one of two teams to beat Leicester, a 1-0 home victory on Boxing Day (Christian Benteke goal).

Wednesday

12 p.m. NBCSCH Premier League Soccer Teams TBA. Action from English Premier League Soccer matches.

Thursday

1:30 p.m. USA Premier League Soccer Newcastle United vs. Brighton & Hove Albion. Newcastle United plays Brighton & Hove Albion at St James’ Park in matchround 25 of the Premier League. The Magpies have won one Premier League match in 11 against Brighton, a 2-1 home win on Mar. 5, 2022 with goals from Ryan Fraser and Fabian Schär.

Saturday

9 a.m. USA Premier League Soccer AFC Bournemouth vs. Manchester United. Bournemouth plays Manchester United at Vitality Stadium in matchround 37 of the Premier League. The Cherries won one of the last 10 Premier League matches versus United, a 1-0 home win on Nov. 2, 2019. A Joshua King volley was enough to win the game.

11:30 a.m. WEEK WMAQ Premier League Soccer Nottingham Forest vs. Arsenal. Nottingham Forest is up against Arsenal at City Ground in matchround 37 of the Premier League. The Gunners won the reverse fixture on Oct, 30, 2022 5-0 thanks to goals from Gabriel Martinelli, Reiss Nelson (2), Thomas Partey and Martin Ødegaard.

BY GEORGE DICKIE