Cardinals Facing Tough Outfield Decision as Lars Nootbaar Nears Return

It's been a long road for St. Louis Cardinals outfielder Lars Nootbaar,

The 28-year-old outfielder played in 135 games last season and slashed .234/.325/.361 with a .686 OPS, 13 homers, 48 RBIs, four stolen bases, and 24 doubles. It was his lowest batting average since 2022 and his lowest OPS of his career to this point. After the 2025 season came to an end, it was announced that Nootbaar needed surgery on both of his heels to correct Haglund's deformities. They are painful growths on the heel near the Achilles tendon. It's not shocking to see that his offensive numbers took a hit in 2025 when he was dealing with something like that.

The Cardinals Are Going To Get Even Better

Aug 31, 2025; Cincinnati, Ohio, USA; St. Louis Cardinals outfielder Lars Nootbaar (21) high fives teammates after scoring on a sacrifice fly out hit by designated hitter Ivan Herrera (not pictured) in the third inning against the Cincinnati Reds at Great American Ball Park. Mandatory Credit: Katie Stratman-Imagn Images | Katie Stratman-Imagn Images

Fortunately, he's healthy now. Nootbaar has been working his way back over the last few months and finally, that resulted in him kicking off a minor league rehab assignment on Friday night with Class-A Palm Beach. It was a great night for the 28-year-old as well. In the first at-bat of his minor league rehab assignment, Nootbaar made a statement and blasted a homer.

In his first rehab game with @GoPBCardinals, OF Lars Nootbaar smacks an opposite field HR in his first AB. pic.twitter.com/4Bhe40EnYw
— Cardinals Player Development (@CardsPlayerDev) May 15, 2026

Nootbaar went 1-for-1 with a walk in his first game back. At the end of the day, the Cardinals are going to be better when Nootbaar is able to return. Jordan Walker has been excellent out in right field. Both Nathan Church and Victor Scott II struggled early on, but Church has completely turned things around. Scott has shown some flashes, but is still slashing .179/.241/.255 with a .496 OPS. Church is slashing .244/.284/.397 with a .681 OPS, five homers and 18 RBIs. When Nootbaar is added back into the mix, he will improve the Cardinals more than they already have.

If you have Church in left field, Nootbaar in center field, and Walker in right field, the lineup will be better right away, although the defense would take a hit. Or, you could put Nootbaar in left field and Church in center field.

When Nootbaar returns, it also will give the Cardinals another potential trade chip to think about.

Right now, the Cardinals are 26-18 and the vibes are immaculate. The Cardinals took down the Kansas City Royals on Friday and the crowd caught the attention of the baseball world with fans in right field shirtless and celebrating throughout the night.

The young Cardinals are winning games left and right and are going to get even better. It's been a long few years, but this is the most fun Cardinals team since 2022 and are going to get even better.

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