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Nolan Gorman's career with the St. Louis Cardinals hasn't shaken out as fans had hoped when the team drafted the power-packed third baseman in 2018, and in 2026, he cratered to such an extent that the Cardinals demoted him to Triple-A Memphis. St. Louis may be ready to cue the exit music for the once-promising 26-year-old, but for a player of Gorman's ilk, a lucrative opportunity overseas could soon come calling if he can't hack it over the next couple of seasons.
For plenty of Americans, a journey to East Asia is a once-in-a-lifetime vacation experience. For many players who were a part of Major League Baseball, it's a way to earn a living playing the sport they love in an entirely different culture. But it's not just the everyday customs that differ from those in America; the brand of baseball played in Japan and Korea holds a distinctly different flavor from that in the United States, and it's one where players like Gorman are highly sought after.
Nippon Professional Baseball (NPB), the highest level of baseball in Japan, and the Korea Baseball Organization (KBO), its equivalent in South Korea, are much less home run-driven than Major League Baseball. Players tend to be smaller and more oriented toward making contact, and this has been amplified even more in the past few seasons with the new baseball that further saps power. For those reasons, players like Gorman who can club the ball out of any park can find themselves to be incredibly valuable in those leagues.
Gorman's future with the Cardinals is in major peril
With JJ Wetherholt entrenched at second base for the far future and Blaze Jordan potentially leapfrogging Gorman at third base, there's a strong possibility that the Cardinals non-tender Gorman after the season and he latches on with another team that thinks it might be able to recreate the stroke he flashed in 2023, where he hit 27 home runs and had an .805 OPS. But if Gorman continues to strike out at an alarming rate and shows no signs of progress as he approaches age 30, there's reason to see Japan or Korea on the horizon.
NPB has been called a "Quadruple-A" level of baseball in terms of skill, and pitch velocity is generally significantly lower than in MLB. Gorman's current issues in Triple-A could prove too severe for NPB, however: In Memphis, Gorman is currently hitting .129 with a .578 OPS. KBO is step down from NPB, and if Gorman's problems in Memphis continue and he fails to succeed with another major league club, that may end up as a more fitting spot for him.
Regardless of where he might end up, Gorman could eventually relish a shot in NPB or KBO, where players can make approximately 20 times the minimum minor league salary as of 2016. It's also not out of the question that Gorman could return stateside if he succeeds in Asia. One player who had trouble keeping his head above water in MLB was Eric Thames, who subsequently performed well in KBO for three seasons and returned as an above-average hitter for the Milwaukee Brewers.
Not everyone has the mental toughness to play in Asia. Homesickness and the language difference can be intense, and according to some former MLB veterans who made the jump overseas, coaches generally don't mess with foreign players because of communication barriers, forcing many players to coach themselves.
The holes in Gorman's swing are massive, and if his major league career continues to stall as a result, the power he's shown in the past could entice an NPB or KBO team to take a long look at him.
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This article was originally published on redbirdrants.com as Cardinals Nolan Gorman is a candidate for an unorthodox solution to rediscover his swing.
