Cardinals Lose Two Key Offensive Players In Back-To-Back Days

The St. Louis Cardinals season has been frustrating from Opening Day on and it's not getting any better with only 40 games remaining.

St. Louis has lost two incredibly important members of the lineup in back-to-back days. After missing a few games with a nagging injury, second baseman Nolan Gorman was placed on the 10-day injured list -- retroactive to Aug. 14, with a lower back strain on Thursday according to the Major League Baseball transaction wire.

Less than 24 hours later, the Cardinals placed outfielder Lars Nootbar on the 10-day injured list with a lower abdomen contusion after fouling a ball off of himself.

Gorman was hitting .241 with 40 extra-base hits including 24 home runs, 67 RBIs and a .815 OPS in 104 games for the Cardinals this season. He's been one of the most important sources of power for St. Louis and has improved defensively from his rookie season.

Nootbaar was hitting .283 with 31 extra-base hits including 12 home runs, 39 RBIs and a .835 OPS in 90 games this season. He's also been one of the hottest hitters in all of baseball since the All-Star break.

The one silver lining, if there is any, is that the Cardinals' top organizational prospect, shortstop Masyn Winn, will replace Nootbaar on the active roster. Richie Palacios replaced Gorman on Thursday.

Super utility man Tommy Edman is expected to fill Nootbaar's outfield responsibilities while Winn takes over as the primary shortstop.

It'll be interesting to see how the 21-year-old prospect handles his first taste of big-league ball -- but it would have been more entertaining to see him in the lineup alongside Gorman and Nootbaar.

More MLB: Cardinals' Top Exec John Monzeliak Details Massive Roster Overhaul For 2024

Published Aug 18, 2023

SCOTT NEVILLE

Scott Neville covers the St. Louis Cardinals for FanNation's "Inside The Cardinals" on Sports Illustrated. Before starting "Inside The Cardinals", Neville attended Merrimack College, where he earned his Bachelor’s Degree in Communication and Media with a minor in Marketing. Neville spent all four years with Merrimack's radio station WMCK, where he grew as a radio/podcast host and producer. His propensity for being in front of a microphone eventually expanded to film, where he produced multiple short films alongside his then-roommate and current co-worker Stephen Mottram. On a journey that began as a way to receive easy credits via film classes, he received a call from "It's Always Sunny In Philadelphia" star Charlie Day. Day advised him to make a feature-length film, which he completed his senior year. While writing the film, Neville completed an internship for United Way as part of their NFL Partnership Program. Neville ran the blog for a team of interns and hosted an internet show called "United Way's NFL Partnership Series" where he interviewed NFL alumni. After college Neville wrote for SB Nation's "Over The Monster," a Red Sox sister site of the flagship brand. His work would eventually lead him to a job as a content producer with NESN, where he would cover all sports. After developing as a writer with the top regional network in the world, he was given the opportunity to join FanNation and the Sports Illustrated Media Group as the publisher of "Inside The Red Sox." After a few months as the top Major League Baseball site in the program, Neville sought expansion and pitched "Inside The Cardinals," one of the newest additions to FanNation and the Sports Illustrated Media Group. The successful launch and quick rise of "Inside The Cardinals" led to Neville joining the Baseball Essential ownership group, a national baseball site under SIMG. Follow him on Twitter: @ScottNeville46 Email: nevilles@merrimack.edu

Follow scottneville46