The Cardinals announced Tuesday that they’ve selected the contract of outfielder Lars Nootbaar from Triple-A Memphis and optioned outfielder Lane Thomas to Triple-A in his place. Left-hander Bernardo Flores Jr. was designated for assignment in order to create a 40-man roster spot for Nootbaar, who’ll be making his MLB debut when he first takes the field.
Nootbaar, 23, was the Cardinals’ eighth-round pick in 2018. He didn’t enter the season ranked among the organization’s top 30 prospects at Baseball America, MLB.com or FanGraphs, but the USC product’s monster season in Memphis has overshadowed that lack of fanfare.
Nootbaar has been an average or better hitter at every minor league stop prior to 2021 but has absolutely erupted with the RedBirds, slashing at a .329/.430/.557 clip. That output has come in just a 22-game sample, given a brief stay on the injured list, but for a Cardinals club that has yet again seen lackluster production in the outfield, the allure is understandable.
Cardinals outfielders are tied for 24th in the Majors with a 95 wRC+, as only Tyler O’Neill and Dylan Carlson have provided the club with above-average offensive production. St. Louis outfielders, as a group, rank 23rd in baseball with a .232 average, 24th with a .307 on-base percentage and 20th with a .401 slugging percentage (thanks primarily to O’Neill’s 15 round-trippers). Thomas, optioned out today to create 26-man roster space for Nootbaar’s promotion, has been one of the primary reasons for the group’s poor overall rankings, batting just .104/.259/.125 in a small sample of 58 plate appearances.
Flores, 25, was an April waiver claim out of the White Sox organization and appeared in just one big league game before today’s DFA. He faced three batters back in a May 5 loss to the Mets but was unable to retire any of them, issuing a pair of walks and a base hit. Flores had a nice run through the Double-A level as a member of the White Sox’ farm system, but he’s been roughed up for a 5.74 ERA with sub-par strikeout and walk rates while pitching for the Cardinals’ Triple-A affiliate (17.6 percent and 12.2 percent, respectively).
The Cardinals will have a week to trade Flores or attempt to pass him through outright waivers. If he passes through waivers unclaimed, they’ll be able to keep him in the organization without dedicating a 40-man roster spot to him.
Is a Nootbaar better than a Baby Ruth? Asking for a friend.
This is an undervalued comment. Well done.
I was thinking Little Debbie Nootbaar, but Baby Ruth will do. Thank you.
You can eat it with your Nootbaar Float.
If his game is as good as his name, he will be great!
Nootbaar will Definitely hit better than Matt Carpenter!!!!! Because of that—— Tommy Edman could be moved back to 2nd base. Carpenter to the bench (where he needs to be as a Lefthanded pinch hitter)
But—— if they are bringing up Nootbaar——they need to start him!!!!
That remains to be seen, as Carpenter is actually hitting a lot better this month.
In any case, Nootbaar will either be on the bench or back in AAA once Bader returns.
No excuses for Carpenter. Him and Martinez both need to be released. As long as they stay on this roster, this team will not move forward.
And do em like the Angels did Pujols? They are both in the last guaranteed year of there contracts? Why would you DFA them? Martinez could be a valued arm from the bullpen, Carpenter started hitting doubles again, better than paying them to play for the Dodgers.
Why would you value an arm that has a 6.62 ERA attached to it? Martinez has been a head case for years now and is more worried about dancing and changing hair color then pitching.
You can have Matt Carpenter. I’ll take any veteran or minor league guy that can hit .230 – .250. He has hit 3 doubles each of the last two months. That’s not anything to write home about. He is done and washed up.
This team better do something to shake things up because if I’m Arenado and see this garbage as the future, I’m opting out of St. Louis.
I hate the Cardinals but that is a fantastic name!
I have a little hunting shack way up in Northern MN, where Sven & Ole jokes are relevant. “Lars Nootbaar” sounds like the name of a handyman or something up there, man.
That’s funny, however as you can see by looking at him, he doesn’t likely resemble those Scandinavian boys. He’s of Dutch-Japanese lineage. Kinda looks like Tommy Edman, actually.
The Cardinals hate you too.
Did somebody say nude bar?
Ahh. I am no longer allowed to enter one of those in the state of Illinois
Tommy Pham is that you?
James Harden?
I’m all in on your nude bar.
Bernardo Flores Jr. with the very impressive inf ERA!!!
Pirates written all over him.
So a pitcher can have an infinite ERA but a batter can’t have an infinite batting average. The preceding vacuous statement was brought to you by boredom.
A batter who gets one hit in one at-bat is 1/1. A pitcher who allows one run in no innings is 1/0. Gotta love math 🙂
Correct. Meanwhile, if a batter is 0/0, that’s an indeterminate form that can equal anything.
Lmao I was looking for you PapiElf.
Lars Taylor-Tatsuji Nootbaar has to be an all time great for PapiElf’s infamous “Name of the day”
Sideways eight.
The Orioles drafted (and since released) his brother Nigel
Nootbaar has to be a rebel pilot is Star Wars
His middle name is great too!
Lars Taylor-Tatsuji Nootbaar
Another Cardinal long shot, but at least he has some statistical reference to warrant a promotion. And, as previously mentioned, a cool name. Good luck Mr. Nootbaar! Would to hear Mike Shannon deal with this. Great stuff!
It’d be pretty hard for him to be even worse than Thomas, though.
play him. don’t leave him on the bench
We’ll see, at least until Bader gets back anyway. Even then, he may be worth keeping on the MLB bench if he doesn’t suck as badly as most of the other bench players the Cardinals have tried so far this year.
I agree, the bench has been bad. They need some guys who can hit over 200
Anybody know what this guy’s World Baseball Classic eligibility is?
Not sure but the name could be Dutch
I really want Lars Nootbaar to break out and become a fantastic player; that’s such a great name.
Selecting him was noot a baard idea.
The Nootbaar era begins
I always get excited when the Cards bring in new player especially a prospect. Eternally waiting for lightening on a bottle.
If you thinking the Cardinals promoting a young player is a harbinger of lightning in a bottle, you’ll love when they trade one!
If he has a good eye at the plate, it would be the eye of a Noot right?
another example of how useless those “top 30 prospect” lists are.. Not one of those so-called experts saw enough in him to make the cut. I realize the odds are against him succeeding in the majors, but as of today, his odds are a lot better than #30.
Keep in mind that those lists were made at the beginning of the season, and we haven’t gotten the mid-season update yet.
How many guys like this around the league are there going to be this year? Guys who are not heralded prospects who progressed a ton with no eyes on them last year and have announced themselves this year. I’m a Toronto fan and there are a few of them for the Jays this year.
How could Lane Thomas be a “primary reason” for the Cardinals poor ranking when he only has 58 PAs?
Somebody has to be the scapegoat. Sorry Lane Thomas. One could blame management for not making the right moves and choices.
Well, the starters have actually hit pretty well (when healthy), while Thomas’s numbers are so bad that he has indeed been a significant strain even with only 58 PAs.
Lane Thomas was so bad they were forced to play Justin Williams who was also very bad. Therefore it is all Thomas’ fault.
Lars Nootbar. Sounds more like he should be playing for the Blues than the Cardinals
Cardinals needed another outfielder and went looking for Mr. Nootbaar. I just wanted to participate.
I was thinking of going there but then I would be really dating myself.
Nootbaar on the lineup tonight batting ninth.
To be fair, it’s the bench players, including the injury fill-ins, who have dragged those outfield numbers down so badly. Once Bader returns in the next week or two, the Cardinals will actually field a significantly above average starting outfield, although the bench will still suck.
What? Scott Hurst isn’t available?
Hoot hoot It’s Noot … this is the best MO has to offer in righting the ship.
Injury injury injury …
News flash to the pres. Of Baseball ops and personel , injuries get almost every team . You build a team that can only survive injury free .
When that doesn’t happen then it’s Goodnight Irene.
Great teams overcome injuries and excel not very good team use the injury bug as a excuse to Stink it up .