JUPITER, Fla. -- Nolan Gorman had a long history of hitting home runs in big league stadiums even before he turned pro.

He won the High School Home Run Derby at Marlins Park during the 2017 All-Star Game festivities, a similar contest at the Under Armour All-America Game at Wrigley Field a few weeks later and went deep off future first-rounder Mason Denaburg in the Perfect Game All-American Game at Petco Park shortly afterward.

That track record, along with his bat speed, the strength in his 6-foot-1, 210-pound frame and the loft in his left-handed stroke gave him the best power in the 2018 Draft. He more than lived up to that reputation after the Cardinals made him the first 2000s-born player ever selected, taking him 19th overall and signing him for $3,231,700 last June. He's on his way to giving St. Louis a lefty version of Kris Bryant.

• Top 30 Prospects | Cardinals' prospects Spring Training stats | Cardinals prospects at ST

Gorman led all 2018 Draftees with 17 homers last summer, including six as an 18-year-old in Class A. Opponents are well aware of the danger he presents at the plate, as evidenced by his first at-bat in big league camp this spring. Astros right-hander Cy Sneed had a 9-3 lead in the ninth inning yet still refused to test him with a fastball, feeding him a curveball and a changeup before Gorman drove a second changeup to the warning track in center field.

A week later, Gorman jumped all over another changeup and homered off Kyle Barraclough to spark a comeback victory against the Marlins. He said he hasn't tried to make many offensive adjustments since entering pro ball.

"The only thing that I really focused on was how long my bat was staying on plane with the ball, how early I got it on plane with the ball," Gorman said. "That’s kind of what everyone's going to nowadays. Really the biggest thing is making sure you're on plane with the ball as early as possible and staying through the zone as long as possible."

When MLB Pipeline talked to Gorman at the Cardinals' training base in Jupiter, he shared what he likes to work on when he's in the batting cage.

Gorman starts by hitting off a tee, taking swings with it set up on the outside part of the plate before centering the tee and later moving it to the inside part of the plate.

"I'll go low, middle, high, just kind of get my swing going with the ball in all the positions," Gorman said. "Then I'll take some swings and then from there, if I'm feeling something -- say I'm kind of coming up on a ball or maybe pulling off a little -- I might do like a step-behind drill with my feet to make me stay through the ball as long as possible. Other than that, I work on letting the ball get deep, as deep as possible and try to drive it to left-center or right-center, depending on where the pitch is."

In the step-behind drill that Gorman references, he'll put his right foot well behind his left. That closes his stance and keeps him from opening up too soon.

Gorman says the key for him while doing teework is not how hard he's hitting the ball but rather where he's hitting it.

"I basically just try to backspin balls to the back of the cage the whole time," he said. "Not really worry about how the ball's flying just as long as it's going to the back of the cage."

Once he's satisfied with his swing off the tee, Gorman has a coach flip him pitches from a short distance. They'll start with pitches on the outer third of the plate, and he focuses on letting the ball travel deep and driving it to the opposite field. After a while, he'll have the coach mix up locations.

"The main focus is really just staying inside the baseball," he said. "If I get around, it's going to be top-spinning balls, rolling over balls. So if you stay focused on hitting the inside part of the ball, you're going to stay through the ball a lot longer and have a lot better chance of actually making contact.

"I think the distance that you let the ball travel, if you can put the same swing on every ball, you're just letting one pitch travel more than the other. So the outside pitch, obviously, you want to get deeper and put the same swing on it. That's what I've been working on, getting on plane with the ball as soon as possible, so if I am late then I can still catch the ball maybe back here but that's still going to be a fair ball down the left-field line."

While hitters are increasingly relying less on batting practice and more on cagework, Gorman says he's more old school and prefers BP.

"For me, I just kind of like using the tee as a warmup because in a game you're not really going to be hitting of a tee," he said. "I like to get someone throwing overhand, some movement to the ball. That's what helps me the most. Tee work is just kind of for me to get loose and ready to take live BP."