Chiefs' Gorman storms on with two homers

Since his selection in the 2018 Draft, Nolan Gorman has flashed power night in and night out. Friday's doubleheader gave him twice the opportunity. 
The top Cardinals prospect went deep in both games of the twinbill, driving in five runs as Class A Peoria swept Beloit at Pohlman Field. The Chiefs took Game 1, 7-0, then won the nightcap, 9-3.

Game 1 box score
Gorman, who came into the day having hit safely in six of his last eight games, improved his average to .321 and his OPS to 1.039. With six long balls this month, he's tied with Lake County's Will Benson and Trey Cabbage of Cedar Rapids for the Midwest League lead.
This comes after Gorman hit .202/280/.426 in a 25-game stint in the Midwest League last summer. 
"They were pitching around him and he was chasing pitches," Chiefs manager Erick Almonte told the [Peoria] Journal Star earlier this month. "The key for him is he's making good contact when he gets a good pitch to hit. He's not chasing pitches, especially in the dirt.  
"He's gonna mature and make adjustments. He's got the bat speed and the power to do that. So far, he's shown he's a different hitter than he was last year. We're happy to see he's making the adjustments."
The 18-year-old got things going in the first game by drawing a five-pitch walk and scoring on Brady Whalen's three-run shot in the first inning. Two frames later, Gorman stepped in against Chase Cohen with two runners on. He worked the count full, then blasted the ninth pitch over the right-center field wall. 
After striking out and popping up at the end of the opener, Gorman kept rolling in the nightcap. Leading off the fourth inning against Joe DeMers, the Arizona native ripped the sixth pitch out of the yard to right. It marked the second time this season that Gorman has homered twice in one day, as he socked two dingers and collected five RBIs on April 8 against Wisconsin. Last season, he had three multi-homer games, one with Rookie Advanced Johnson City and two with the Chiefs.
He capped the night with an RBI single to right in the sixth inning. 
The 2018 first-round pick leads the circuit with 13 extra-base hits and 52 total bases and ranks second with 20 RBIs and a .650 slugging percentage. Not only have Gorman's stats been strong, his attitude has been top notch.

"Off the field, he's never too high or too low," Almonte told the Journal Star. "I think that will help him a lot at whatever level he's at. I'm sure he knows he's one of the Cardinals' big prospects and a lot of people have their eyes on him. With his mentality and the way he carries himself, he'll be a good kid and a good player. I'm excited to watch him. Hopefully, we can see him move up in the system quick and make a big impact on the big league club like everybody's expecting."
Whalen also had a strong showing for Peoria, totaling two long balls and six RBIs out of the cleanup spot.
Left-hander Diego Cordero (2-1) came within two outs of a no-hitter in the opener, yielding one hit and three walks while striking out nine in 6 1/3 innings. Fellow southpaw Fabian Blanco retired both batters he faced -- fanning one -- to preserve the shutout.