The St. Louis Cardinals are in the middle of a pivotal time in their franchise. With the team looking to make a postseason push ahead of the trade deadline, a losing streak could cause the team to sell.
Unfortunately, after losing their first game coming out of the All-Star break, the Cardinals got some bad injury news for one of their sluggers, Nolan Gorman.
According to Katie Woo of The Athletic, the Cardinals placed Gorman on the 10-day injured list and recalled Thomas Saggese to take his place on the active roster.
As expected, Nolan Gorman hits the IL (back) retroactive to 7/18. Thomas Saggese is back up. #STLCards
— Katie Woo (@katiejwoo) July 19, 2025
The move comes after Gorman was scratched from Friday night’s game. He’s been nursing a back injury, and with his placement on the injured list, the Cardinals slugger might have further aggravated the injury pregame.
This season, Gorman hasn’t been at his best, but he’s still been a solid hitter. Through 66 games, Gorman has 43 hits, 31 runs scored, eight doubles, one triple, nine home runs, 29 RBIs, 27 walks, and 68 strikeouts.
He’s batting .219 with a .310 on-base and .408 slugging percentage. His .718 OPS is higher than just one other season in his four-year MLB career. That season was 2024, when he had a .671 OPS and was a below league-average hitter.
MORE: Trio of Cardinals relievers most likely to be moved at MLB trade deadline
Through his first half of 2025, Gorman has been a league-average hitter, with a 100 OPS+ this season. It’s not as good as his first two seasons in the league, including his 2023 campaign, where he hit 27 home runs.
Meanwhile, Saggese makes his return to the roster, just a day after Jordan Walker was activated off the injured list, which sent Saggese down to Triple-A Memphis.
The 23-year-old has bounced between the minors and majors this season, and this Gorman injury has led to another roster move for the versatile infielder.
Losing Gorman for an extended period will sting for the Cardinals. The 25-year-old has a bright future ahead of him in the Majors if he can put everything together. But, for now, he’ll head to the injured list and nurse a back injury that has put a pause to his season.
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