The Cardinals announced that outfielder Lars Nootbaar has been placed on the 60-day injured list. That is presumably to open a 40-man roster spot for prospect JJ Wetherholt, as it was reported a few days ago that Wetherholt would make the Opening Day roster.
It’s an unfortunate development for both Nootbaar and the Cardinals. The outfielder is coming off a down season during which he produced a .234/.325/.361 line and 96 wRC+. That was a notable drop-off from his three prior seasons, as he hit a combined .246/.351/.426 for a 118 wRC+ during that span.
In October, he underwent surgery on both heels to shave down Haglund’s deformities, which are essentially painful protrusions of bone. In the wake of that procedure, it was expected that Nootbaar could have a chance to be ready for Opening Day. It became more and more apparent that he was going to start on the IL as spring training kept going on without him appearing in a game. Now he is not only landing on the IL but it’s the 60-day version. That allows the Cards to open a 40-man spot but means Nootbaar can’t rejoin the team until late May even in a best-case scenario.
The Cards are rebuilding, meaning their players nearing free agency were mostly traded in the offseason. Nootbaar is controlled through 2027, just like Brendan Donovan was, and likely would have been moved if not for the questions about his health. Ideally, he would have been back on the field in 2026 with his production back to his pre-2025 levels. That would have made him a notable deadline trade candidate this summer.
That all could still happen but the plan is going to be delayed and Nootbaar will therefore have less time to showcase his health before the deadline. For now, the Cards are going to be giving the outfield playing time to guys like Jordan Walker, Victor Scott II, Nathan Church, José Fermín and Thomas Saggese.
Photo courtesy of Daniel Kucin Jr., Imagn Images
I understand pitchers being injury prone, but hitters? Maybe less focus on the weights and more focus on Pilates and yoga.
Never heard of Kris Bryant, Mike Trout, or Anthony Rendon?
Nootbar must be related to Stanton .
Noot has been running, playing catch, and hitting BP, but he didn’t play any games this spring.
Going on the 60-day gives him at least two more weeks of rehab and still get the normal six weeks of “spring training” games.
It also gives the Cardinals 60 more days to evaluate the guys who could have (easily) been removed from the 40-man.
He got Boneitis
Time for Lars to get that sponsorship from Hershey’s and get his own chocolate candy bar. Lindt chocolate is actually better but either way. He has time on his hands.
The question is if it has nougat or not.
They would out sell Reggie bars in St. Louis for sure.
Not going anywhere for a while? Have a Nootbaar.
Lars Bars, a nice decadent nougaty nootbar
He said “feet don’t fail me now” but they did.
I thought that return date was too optimistic, especially for a guy with his skill set.
They should have traded him after he failed to recruit Ohtani.
Gotta keep an eye on those Haglund’s deformities. Everyone knows this…