Nolan Gorman Jumps On Elite Prospect Path

Image credit: Nolan Gorman (Paul Gierhart)

Nolan Gorman has played 84 professional games through Wednesday, May 1. That’s all he’s needed to jump on an elite prospect track.

Gorman, the Cardinals’ No. 1 prospect following the graduations of Alex Reyes, Tyler O’Neill and Dakota Hudson, has been on an offensive tear since being selected with the 19th overall pick in the 2018 draft. He hit .291 with 17 home runs, 44 RBIs and a .949 OPS in 63 games after signing last year while becoming just the seventh high school draftee in the last decade to reach low Class A in his draft year.

He’s followed up this season by hitting .325 with a .389 on-base percentage and .650 slugging percentage in the Midwest League, which is known to freeze out even the best prospects during a frigid April.

In the last 10 years, only five other high school draftees selected in the top two rounds have posted a .900 OPS or better in their draft year followed by an .800 OPS or better in the Midwest League the following April.

Player	Draft Year	Following April*
Nolan Gorman	.949 OPS	1.039 OPS
Jo Adell	.908 OPS	.838 OPS
Bo Bichette	1.182 OPS	1.035 OPS
Jesse Winker	.943 OPS	.852 OPS
Corey Seager	.903 OPS	.817 OPS
Mike Trout	.905 OPS	.892 OPS
*Midwest League only. Minimum 18 games played

 

That’s two franchise cornerstones, an everyday outfielder with a career .285/.381/.470 slash line and two current top 10 prospects.

Gorman’s performance, along with that precedent, resulted in a 22-spot jump in the latest update of Baseball America’s Top 100 prospects.

If the 18-year-old third baseman can keep this up, he’ll join the company of his predecessors and become one of the top prospects in all of baseball.