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Athletic article from Woo
NEW YORK — For Nolan Gorman and Matthew Liberatore — best friends since grade school and the top two prospects at their respective positions in the Cardinals’ farm system — the question was never if they would eventually be called upon to produce at the big-league level. It was only a matter of when.
That moment is finally here.
Gorman will start at second base in his major-league debut Friday against the Pirates. Liberatore, St. Louis’ No. 1 pitching prospect, will make a spot start on Saturday for his big-league debut. Gorman ranks No. 17 overall on The Athletic’s Keith Law’s top-100 prospect rankings and Liberatore is listed at No. 36.
“The decision (to bring up Gorman) was once we realized we had a playing opportunity for him, we decided, given his performance at Triple A, that it was time,” president of baseball operations John Mozeliak said in a phone call with The Athletic.
For both players, performance and opportunity dictated these callups. Gorman has been lighting up the Triple-A circuit, leading the league with 15 home runs, and Liberatore has demonstrated much better command of his four-pitch arsenal, holding a 3.83 ERA over seven starts for Memphis. Until recently, however, both players wouldn’t have necessarily seen much playing time with the way the Cardinals’ roster was constructed. The middle infield was crowded and the team had multiple designated hitter options, and with Jordan Hicks being deemed a starting pitcher at the beginning of the season, the rotation was full as well.
But things have changed dramatically for the Cardinals over the last two weeks. It started with the organization optioning All-Star shortstop Paul DeJong to Triple A on May 10. Rookies Juan Yepez and Brendan Donovan have emerged as everyday players for the Cardinals, and their defensive flexibility creates plenty of options for manager Oli Marmol to tweak the starting lineup each day. This became even more important when starting left fielder Tyler O’Neill, who is battling a brutal slump over the first seven weeks of the season, landed on the 10-day IL with a right shoulder impingement after Thursday’s walk-off loss to the Mets.
With an active roster spot available, and Yepez, Donovan and Corey Dickerson all able to play left field in O’Neill’s absence, the opportunity for Gorman swung open. He is expected to be the club’s everyday second baseman, with 2021 Gold Glove winner Tommy Edman sliding to shortstop. The two will be the predominant middle-infield options for the immediate future. Edman, who played shortstop in college at Stanford and in the minor leagues, has been taking reps at shortstop before games over the last week, but hasn’t played the position during a game this season.
“I’m excited for the opportunity and I’ll be prepared,” Edman said to The Athletic in a text message. “I’m very comfortable at both positions up the middle so it shouldn’t be a difficult transition.”
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