We now know that the St. Louis Cardinals will finally have Lars Nootbaar back in the Major League lineup as he\u2019s being activated for the homestand versus the Cincinnati Reds starting Friday night. There\u2019s been a lot of discussion about what that will mean for the roster moving forward, but I\u2019d like to focus on something that Lars Nootbaar\u2019s return gives the team that statistics cannot track.<\/p>\n
In case you missed the announcement that was reported on by MLB Trade Rumors<\/a>, Lars Nootbaar is headed back to St. Louis<\/a>. No additional roster move was required because St. Louis sent rule 5 pick Matt Pushard<\/a> back to the Marlins. The expectation is that Lars will take over his spot in left field which has been covered by Jose Fermin, Bryan Torres<\/a>, Nelson Vel\u00e1zquez and Thomas Saggese<\/a> since Nathan Church<\/a> was injured. There\u2019s a good chance that Lars will be slotted 5th, 6th or 7th in the batting order which should be an upgrade over the production from the bottom of the lineup so far this season. These are important and tangible differences that having Lars back will make for the St. Louis Cardinals.<\/p>\n Advertisement<\/p>\n May I introduce one other factor that I haven\u2019t seen mentioned so far about what Lars Nootbaar\u2019s return will provide the St. Louis Cardinals? If I were one of the Sabermetrics experts here in the VEB community (spoiler alert: I\u2019m not), I\u2019d call my intangible metric TOE. Tarps Off Energy.<\/p>\n One of my favorite parts of the St. Louis Cardinals 2026 season compared to the past 3 years is the competitive energy that the team\u2019s young players bring to the table. I can count on one hand the number of games this year where I\u2019ve felt the team lacked intensity. Now, imagine Lars Nootbaar bringing his personality and fire to what we\u2019ve already seen this season. I can\u2019t wait.<\/p>\n I was not surprised to see ESPN mention today that they believe Lars will become a trade deadline candidate if he stays healthy. That may be so and I don\u2019t disagree that the team should listen to offers and move if the right one is presented. I have to wonder if his playing time between now and the trade deadline is enough to show his value to another team. There\u2019s also the issue of whether Lars can remain healthy which has been his challenge for the past few seasons. However, even if that happens, that gives Lars nearly two months to make a positive impact on the Cardinals young lineup.<\/p>\n