SAN FRANCISCO — After residing in the back half of the batting order to begin this season, Cardinals designated hitter Nolan Gorman has done more than slug his way up the lineup, he’s muscled his way into more lineups.
A day after mashing a tiebreaking, game-winning three-run homer in Seattle, Gorman was back at the No. 3 spot in the lineup Monday night as the Cardinals opened a four-game series in San Francisco.
The Giants’ pitching assignments are stocked with right-handed starters, so the series lines up for Gorman to be in the lineup. But as the 22-year-old left-handed batter develops on the job, the Cardinals don’t want to pigeon-hole him as a platoon player by keeping him from producing against lefties by not starting him against lefties.