The St. Louis Cardinals could activate outfielder Lars Nootbaar from the injured list as soon as Monday, according to John Denton of MLB.com. Nootbaar, who has been on the IL since the beginning of the month with a lower-back contusion, has slashed .266/.380/.390 in 184 plate appearances for St. Louis this season, good for a 118 wRC+.
As discussed by Derrick Goold of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, Nootbaar’s return will create something of a conundrum for Cardinals manager Oli Marmol, who has moved Tommy Edman from shortstop to the outfield in recent weeks, a change the switch-hitter has taken to well. Goold suggests that the return of Nootbaar – who can play quality defense in all three outfield spots – would give Marmol the option of shifting Edman back to the infield, with Nootbaar taking over center and Nolan Gorman spending most days at DH. Marmol could also leave Edman in center and use Nootbaar and Dylan Carlson in the corners while allowing Jordan Walker (who has struggled to adjust to outfield work after spending most of his minor league career on the infield dirt) to designated hitter.
Whatever defensive alignment the Cardinals end up utilizing, Nootbaar’s return figures to provide a boost for the club as it struggles to stay relevant in the NL Central. Despite an abysmal 29-43 record which has them 8.5 games back in the division, St. Louis still has a 12.1 percent chance to make the playoffs, per Fangraphs, thanks to their weak Central competition.
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