Nolan

Gorman

Hours after the Cardinals bypassed him and called up Thomas Saggese to help their infield. Of course, it was hard to blame them, since even though Gorman did have four homers in his first 15 games for Memphis, they came with a .200 average and a .274 OBP. He still might rejoin the Cardinals before the end of the season.

Hopefully this is just a day-to-day thing. If not, the Cardinals could bring back Nolan Gorman and turn to Brendan Donovan and José Fermín at third base.

The Cardinals were open to a quick recall for Gorman if he started out hot in Triple-A, but it hasn’t happened. It looks like he might be a non-factor for the rest of the season.

José Fermín is replacing him on the roster. Gorman had a solid July, but he was 7-for-33 with no RBI and 11 strikeouts this month and was losing playing time. It definitely makes sense to let him go get regular at-bats against righties and lefties in Triple-A for a spell and see if that helps. Brandon Donovan will likely be the primary second baseman for now, opening up outfield time for Tommy Pham.

With the Reds throwing left-hander Andrew Abbott, it will be Walker in right field, Victor Scott II in center field, and Tommy Pham in left field. Brendan Donovan will also play second base, which means all of Nolan Gorman, Alec Burleson, and Lars Nootbaar will shift to the bench. Reports have suggested that the Cardinals plan to primarily play Walker against lefties to start, and they have really struggled against left-handed pitching this season, so today’s lineup is not great news for Burleson, Nootbaar, and Gorman who could all be pushed into strong side platoons and not full-time roles.

Gorman needs to get hot, or he could lose a bunch of playing time with the Cardinals able to turn to Brendan Donovan at second and Tommy Pham in left. He’s 2-for-23 in his last eight games, leaving him at .199/.271/.403 overall.

Gorman is making his first start since Tuesday as Brendan Donovan has gotten extended run at the keystone in the wake of veteran Tommy Pham coming over from the White Sox at the trade deadline. It’s a disappointing development for fantasy managers as Gorman has made just three starts since July 24 and appears likely to be relegated to pinch-hitting moving forward.

This is a rarity, and Gorman wouldn’t need a routine day off after sitting out against lefties in three of the Cardinals’ previous four games. Gorman hasn’t been great these last two weeks, but he’s still hitting a strong .279/.313/.508 in 64 plate appearances this month. With Gorman absent, Matt Carpenter is in the lineup as a DH.

With the Cardinals facing left-hander Martin Perez, Gorman will head to the bench. The 24-year-old has shown plus power this season but continues to swing and miss at a high rate and is in danger of seeing his batting average dip below .200; however, if you need home runs, he should be a good source of that in all formats. Brendan Donovan will move to second base on Wednesday with Dylan Carlson starting in the outfield.

Gorman supplied St. Louis’ lone run during a low-scoring affair at PNC Park by walloping a fifth-inning solo shot just inside the right-field foul pole off Pirates starter Mitch Keller. It was his 19th round-tripper of the season and lone hit in four at-bats. The 24-year-old slugging second baseman boasts a lackluster .206 batting average this season, but the fact that he’s probably going to wind up eclipsing the 30-homer threshold makes him a mixed-league relevant fantasy contributor, even if he’s merely a power plus counting stats source.