Cardinals Notes: Nootbaar, Baez, Catcher
Lars Nootbaar still hasn’t played this spring as he works back from heel surgeries. Jeff Jones of The Belleville News-Democrat noted yesterday that the left fielder is trending towards beginning the season on the injured list. There’s no clear timetable for his season debut.
An injured list stint has been a possibility since the Cardinals announced that Nootbaar had surgery to address Haglund’s deformities on both heels in early October. The health uncertainty seemingly took the outfielder off the trade block over the winter. Nootbaar was loosely tied to the Rangers, Mets and Pirates at points throughout the offseason. There was too much uncertainty in his health outlook for the Cardinals to net a strong enough return to move him.
The Cardinals have two years of arbitration control over Nootbaar. The lefty hitter posted above-average offensive numbers over his first three and a half MLB seasons. He had a career-worst .234/.325/.361 showing across 583 plate appearances last year. Nootbaar is making $5.35MM this season and seems likely to be available at the deadline as long as he’s healthy.
Nootbaar’s injury leaves the Opening Day left field job available. The Cardinals were in the market for a right-handed hitting outfielder late in the offseason but didn’t come away with any MLB additions. They signed Nelson Velázquez to a minor league deal. He’s mashing at a .333/.440/.524 clip with four walks and two strikeouts in 25 plate appearances this spring. They’re also getting utility infielders Thomas Saggese and José Fermín outfield work in camp. One of those players could split time with lefty-hitting Nathan Church as a stopgap left field platoon.
One idea not under consideration: carrying highly-regarded outfield prospect Joshua Báez on the Opening Day roster. The Cardinals optioned the 22-year-old to Triple-A Memphis yesterday. Báez had an excellent camp, slugging three homers while going 7-21 in 10 games. Báez has no Triple-A experience, though, so it’s hardly a surprise that he’ll begin the season in the minors.
A former second-round pick, Báez floundered early in his minor league career. He firmly put himself back on the prospect radar last season. Báez combined for a .287/.384/.500 slash with 20 homers between High-A and Double-A. Even more impressively, he cut his strikeout rate to a league average 21.4% clip after fanning in more than 34% of his plate appearances in his first three professional seasons. He’ll look to follow up his impressive Spring Training by maintaining that improved contact rate in his first look at Triple-A pitching.
St. Louis also optioned catching prospects Jimmy Crooks and Leonardo Bernal over the weekend. That leaves Ivan Herrera, Pedro Pages and Yohel Pozo as the three catchers on the 40-man roster who remain in camp. Derrick Goold of The St. Louis Post-Dispatch writes that the team intends to carry all three on the Opening Day roster. Pages will be the primary option behind the dish, while Pozo will work in a traditional backup role. Herrera will continue seeing more time as a designated hitter than at catcher, though the Cardinals aren’t moving him off the position entirely.
Cardinals Select Four Players
The Cardinals added four prospects to their 40-man roster on Rule 5 protection day: Outfielder Joshua Baez, catcher Leonardo Bernal, and left-handers Cooper Hjerpe and Brycen Mautz. They needed to open one spot, so they designated reliever Jorge Alcala for assignment.
St. Louis signed Bernal as an international free agent in 2021. MLB.com ranks him 4th among the organization’s prospects. Bernal hit .270 with 10 home runs over 96 games at High-A in 2024, earning a bump to Double-A. He scuffled to a 64 wRC+ in a brief sample with Springfield. Bernal was back with the Double-A squad this past season. He put together a league-average performance in terms of wRC+, while chipping in 13 home runs and 13 steals. The 21-year-old has shown decent base-stealing prowess for a catcher, swiping 20 bags over the past two years.
The Cardinals selected Baez in the second round of the 2021 draft. He’s the team’s 11th-ranked prospect on MLB.com. A bloated strikeout rate held Baez back in his first few professional seasons, but he got the contact in check this past season. After three straight years with a strikeout rate above 34%, Baez trimmed it to 20.6% across two levels in 2025. He also showed a new level of power, reaching 20 home runs between High-A and Double-A. Baez had totaled 24 home runs in his previous four professional seasons. He also racked up 54 stolen bases this past year.
Hjerpe is one of the team’s top arms in the minors, but he’s currently on the shelf after undergoing Tommy John surgery back in April. The lefty sits at 13th on MLB.com’s prospect list. Hjerpe was a first-rounder back in 2022. He posted a solid 3.27 ERA between High-A and Double-A in 2024. Hjerpe had a strikeout rate above 35% at both stops.
Mautz was taken in the second round back in 2022. He’s immediately jumped into a workhorse role as a professional, making at least 23 starts in all three of his seasons. Mautz struggled to a 5.18 ERA at High-A in 2024, but bounced back with his best season yet this past year. The lefty posted a 2.98 ERA with a career-best 28.6% strikeout rate across 114 2/3 innings at Double-A in 2025. The 24-year-old is a candidate to make starts at the big-league level at some point next season.
Alcala was claimed off waivers from the Red Sox back in August. He was knocked around in 15 appearances with the Cardinals, recording a 5.02 ERA. The 30-year-old had spent his entire MLB career with the Twins heading into 2025. He was dealt to Boston in June and made 19 appearances for the team before being designated for assignment and landing in St. Louis.
Draft Signings: 7/19/21
A few notable draft signings for Day Two selections:
- The Braves signed right-hander Spencer Schwellenbach to a $1MM bonus, reports Jim Callis of MLB.com (Twitter link). That checks in a bit below the $1.1855MM slot value associated with the 59th overall pick. A two-way star at the University of Nebraska, Schwellenbach was announced as a pitcher on draft day. He pitched exclusively in relief for the Cornhuskers this season because he was the team’s everyday shortstop, but it’s possible the Braves stretch him out as a starting pitcher in pro ball. Keith Law of the Athletic is particularly bullish on Schwellenbach, ranking him the class’ #29 prospect pre-draft and praising his delivery, mid-90s fastball, and promising secondary pitches.
- The Cardinals have signed second-rounder Joshua Baez to a $2.25MM bonus, Callis reports. That’s well above the $1.3385MM slot value that accompanies the 54th selection. A corner outfielder from a Massachusetts high school, Baez had been committed to Vanderbilt University. He’s a high-volatility prospect, with some of the best raw power in the class but questions about his hit tool given the lack of quality pitching he faced in the Northeast. Baez’s huge upside earned him spots among the top 35 prospects in the estimation of Law, Baseball America, and Eric Longenhagen and Kevin Goldstein of FanGraphs. St. Louis saved a bit of bonus pool space by going underslot with UCSB right-hander Michael McGreevy in the first round.
- The Royals came to a $1MM agreement with fourth-rounder Shane Panzini, Callis reports. That’s nearly double the $538.2K slot value that comes with the 108th selection. Kansas City’s clearly more bullish than most public evaluators on Panzini, who came in at #239 in Baseball America’s pre-draft rankings. BA noted that the right-hander can get his fastball into the mid-90s and has a clean delivery, but expressed concerns about his lack of impactful secondary pitches and advanced age for a prep draftee (he turns 20 in October). Nevertheless, the Royals were comfortable offering the New Jersey native seven figures to forego his commitment to the University of Virginia.