Cubs standout Nico Hoerner tops our NL Central second baseman rankings

4. Nolan Gorman, St. Louis Cardinals

Former top prospect Nolan Gorman took a massive step back last year after mashing 27 homers and posting a .478 slugging percentage in 119 games in 2023. He's the literal opposite of Hoerner and Tirang: the Cardinal infielder finished in the first percentile in whiff and K rate (meaning he is the worst qualified hitter in those categories or close to the worst).

A 38 percent strikeout rate will make it hard to provide any type of value at the plate, even with a ton of slugging. Gorman also grades out as a bad to terrible fielder, a below-average baserunner and a poor contact guy. The man is in the bigs based on his ability to hit the ball hard and he leans into it quite a bit. That being said, he needs a massive improvement in his peripheral abilities to hold onto the second base job much longer in St. Louis. If Gorman could hit for just a bit higher average and improve his defense marginally, he becomes a valuable player akin to Brandon Lowe or a Dan Uggla.

5. Nick Gonzales, Pittsburgh Pirates

Nick Gonzales is yet another young player who took a massive step forward in 2024, and projects to be in the Hoerner/Tirang mold. He makes a lot of contact, doesn't walk much and provides a ton of speed. There's a pretty clear path to improvement for him as well - get better against the breaking pitch.

He's hit under .220 against breaking balls so far in his career. Gonzales was a former top-20 prospect so he has the pedigree to make another big jump in 2025. He has absolutely dominated minor league pitching to the tune of a .905 OPS, so it will be fascinating to see if the Pirates organization can help him manifest that slugging and on-base skills against big league pitching.