During their greatest run of the season, the St. Louis Cardinals received devastating news about starting right fielder Lars Nootbaar. The Cardinals announced on Friday that Nootbaar was placed on the 10-day injured list with an oblique injury, retroactive to May 30. St. Louis is recalling infielder Jose Fermin to replace Nootbaar on the active roster.
Nootbaar appeared to favor his left side after swinging in the top of the seventh inning of the Cardinals’ victory on Wednesday. He remained in the game and reached base on an infield single before being removed in the bottom of the eighth.
Unfortunately, injuries have been a large part of Nootbaar’s professional career. The 26-year-old has been on the injured list five times since the beginning of the 2023 season.
This is Nootbaar’s second injury this season. He missed the first two weeks of the season to recover from a rib contusion he sustained in late March.
When healthy, Nootbaar is an everyday player for the Cardinals, and he was finally heating up after some struggles at the bat. He had seven hits in his last four games and has reached base safely in nine of his last ten. Nootbaar had a.275 batting average in 22 May games.
Overall in 2024, Nootbaar is batting.234 with five home runs, 19 RBIs, and 14 runs in 39 games.
The Cardinals are grown accustomed to replacing Lars Nootbaar in the lineup, which they do not enjoy. However, certain players, such as Nootbaar, struggle to stay healthy throughout the course of two seasons.
Cardinals hitting their stride as June approaches
Following a terrible 2023, the Cardinals had lofty expectations heading into the season. Two months into the 2024 campaign, St. Louis finally appears to be hitting the right notes.
Wednesday’s victory over the Cincinnati Reds was the Cardinals’ fifth consecutive series victory, and they improved to 8-2 in their previous ten games. At 27-27, the Cardinals have returned to.500 for the first time since April 17.
St. Louis is attempting to rise above a group of NL Central teams charged with catching the Milwaukee Brewers for the division lead. The second-place Cardinals trail the Brewers by five games, with one game separating St. Louis from fifth-place Cincinnati.
There was speculation a few weeks ago that the Cardinals would be sellers at the trade deadline. Those appear to be put to bed for the time being, and will only become quieter if St. Louis continues to thrive.
The Cardinals will try to extend their winning streak with a difficult series against the Philadelphia Phillies this weekend. The Phillies come into the three-game series with the best record in baseball. A series win on the road could be the turning point in St. Louis’ season.
