Cardinals Reveal Two Key Contributors Had Surgeries Before Uncertain Offseason

As the St. Louis Cardinals enter an offseason of uncertainty, two players with the murkiest futures will both be recovering from surgical procedures.

All-Star second baseman Brendan Donovan and outfielder Lars Nootbaar will both likely hear their names thrown around in a lot of trade rumors this winter, as they each have two years remaining on their current contracts and have had strong, if unspectacular careers to this point.

On Friday, Derrick Goold of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch reported that Donovan and Nootbaar both recently underwent surgeries to clean up nagging issues they dealt with throughout the season.

Donovan, Nootbaar undergo surgeries

Sep 19, 2025; St. Louis, Missouri, USA; St. Louis Cardinals left fielder Lars Nootbaar (21) hits a one run single against the Milwaukee Brewers during the first inning at Busch Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Jeff Curry-Imagn Images | Jeff Curry-Imagn Images

Per Goold, Donovan had surgery to remove a "sports hernia" in his abdomen to address lingering soreness that was previously thought to be stemming from a foot injury. Meanwhile, Nootbaar had double heel surgery.

"(A sports hernia) is the name given to a tearing of the abdominal wall that can cause soreness and limitations that are often described as a groin injury," Goold explained. "Donovan had surgery in the first week of October to repair the damage, and his timetable is to be determined based on recovery as the offseason progresses.

"Lars Nootbaar had surgery on both of his heels to shave down Haglund's deformities. Those are bone growths on the back of the heel where the Achilles' tendon attaches."

Timetables for both players' returns to game action are expected to be determined on how their recoveries progress throughout the offseason, according to Goold.

In addition, Goold confirmed that catcher Iván Herrera had a procedure to repair bone spurs in his throwing elbow, which Cardinals on SI publicized on Thursday.

Donovan, 28, had numbers that fell relatively in line with his career averages by the end of the season, with 2.7 bWAR, a 119 OPS+, and 10 home runs in 118 games. He put up just a .706 OPS after the All-Star break (.797 before) and missed a month on the injured list from mid-August to mid-September.

Nootbaar, 28, played a career-high 135 games, but saw his worst finishes in slugging percentage (.361), OPS (.686), and OPS+ (95). He's been a reliable on-base machine for his first five major league seasons, but has taken a step back after a strong 2023 (3.3 bWAR).

Both players' futures will be watched closely as the Cardinals enter some degree of a rebuild, making trades seem likely for those not under long-term control.

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