The Cardinals opted for third party bankruptcy Nolan Gorman to Triple-A Memphis and opted for a contract as a corner outfielder Blaze Jordanas first reported by Derrick Goold of St. Louis Post-Dispatch. Jordan’s first game for St. Louis will be his first MLB game. An injured striker Ramón Urías moved to 60-day IL to make room for Jordan on the 40-man roster. In another movement, the right hand Hunter Dobbins he’s headed to Memphis, while the Cardinals remember well Chris Roycroft.
Gorman, 26, made his MLB debut in May 2022 and has spent most of the past five seasons with the St. Louis Cardinals. The former top prospect showed promise in his first full season, hitting 27 home runs and finishing with an .805 OPS and 118 wRC+ in 464 PA. His 31.9% strikeout rate was high, but that wasn’t hard to ignore when he was walking at an 11.4% clip with a hard hit rate close to 50% and one of the highest barrel rates in the league. He also held his own with the glove at second and third base, finishing with a 2.3 FanGraphs WAR.
Unfortunately for Gorman, swinging has become an even bigger problem, while his strength has waned. With just over 1,000 plate appearances from 2024 to ’26, he owns a 34.9% batting average, a .653 OPS, and an 83 wRC+. The Cardinals were hoping for that trade Nolan Arenado again Brendan Donovan this past season will give Gorman the consistent playing time he needs to see things through. However, even though he has appeared in 62 of his team’s 66 games this season, his .598 OPS and 69 wRC+ are the worst marks of his career. His nine percent xwOBA (.279) doesn’t suggest things will get any better, and his 3-for-43 (.070) doesn’t extend over the past three weeks.
Surprisingly, the Cardinals are in the middle of the National League playoff picture in 2026; with a .561 winning percentage, they will be the NL Wild Card team if the season ends today. So, it looks like they’ve decided they can’t give Gorman the ropes to fix his problems in the big leagues. Instead, they will see if Jordan can give Gorman what he hasn’t given them. Third base is the rookie’s primary position, so he should be able to step into Gorman’s old role.
Jordan is not a top prospect. The Cardinals acquired him from the Red Sox last summer in exchange for a recruiting arm Steven Matz. However, the 23-year-old has put up solid numbers in Triple-A this year, with 11 home runs and 31 RBIs in 57 games. Thanks to an excellent 11.5% batting average, he is hitting .313, while his power has propelled him to a .921 OPS and 137 wRC+. Some of that success may reflect luck with a small sample size, but Statcast’s numbers show that he has been hitting the ball very hard this year.
Dobbins, 26, pitched 13 innings in three appearances in his most recent stint in the majors, striking out 15 and walking just two. He gave up four earned runs, three of which came yesterday. His demotion says less about his performance and more about his team’s roster needs. He was serving as a fake sixth starter, and apparently, the Cardinals decided they would like a fresh, traditional bullpen arm in Roycroft, rather than a bulky arm like Dobbins.
Urías has been out since May 5 with elbow problems. The veteran player will play until the beginning of July.
