Ranking the 10 most valuable young players in the St. Louis Cardinals organization

#4 - Lars Nootbaar

There may not be a more polarizing player in the Cardinals fanbase than Lars Nootbaar. I've never quite understood why some people love to hate on him, but I would think those voices are quieting down week by week as he continues to stay on the field and produce at a high level.

Going into Saturday night's contest against the Kansas City Royals, Nootbaar was slashing .260/.374/.434 with seven home runs, 24 RBI, and 29 runs scored as the Cardinals' leadoff man, good for a 128 wRC+ and 1.2 fWAR already on the season. Nootbaar's 15% walk rate is the 12th best in all of baseball, and his 15.5% strikeout rate is the 28th best in the game. Nootbaar has settled into the lead-off spot for the Cardinals by walking a ton, rarely striking out, and doing damage when he gets the opportunity to do so.

Nootbaar's wRC+ ranks 53rd in all of baseball to begin the year, showing fans who doubted him just how impactful he can be when he's on the field. He's always been impactful when healthy (posting a career 118 wRC+ thus far), but his career high in games played is just 117. Nootbaar is well on his way to breaking that in 2025, and the Cardinals are major beneficiaries of that.

Nootbaar is once again a Statcast darling this year, but get this, the numbers are even better now than the last few seasons when he was constantly a breakout candidate for many around the game. Nootbaar has always been a guy who ranks highly in xwOBA, xBA, xSLG, average exit velocity, Whiff%, Chase%, BB%, Hard-Hit% and more, but he's also turn his few weaknesses into strengths now as well, with his bat speed, LA Sweet-Spot%, and K% all now elite as well. If you look at his Baseball Savant page today, you'll truly see all red in his batting profile, and his overall batting run value ranks in the 92nd percentile.

Nootbaar is making a strong case for his first-ever All-Star nod this year, and even if he doesn't get it, just keeping up this kind of production all year long would be sweet confirmation of how good the 27-year-old can be. Right now, Nootbaar is on pace for 24 home runs, 81 RBI, and 98 runs scored over the course of 150 games, which Nootbaar is currently on track to play in 154.

While injuries have been a fair criticism of Nootbaar, what I have not understood is why people have felt the need to diminish his ability as a player. When he is on the field, he produces. Yes, he does need to show he can stay on the field consistently for people to take him seriously as a top-end talent, but his 4.5 fWAR pace sure does point to how well he is producing this year.