Since the start of the 2025 season, Lars Nootbaar has consistently set the tone at the top of the St. Louis Cardinals’ lineup. As the team has climbed the standings heading into late May, it’s become clear that Nootbaar’s individual performance often mirrors the team’s overall success.
Consider this: In Cardinals victories, Nootbaar leads all qualified hitters in slugging percentage (.538), OPS (.949), RBIs (24), home runs (7), walks (20), and runs scored (25). But in losses, his numbers drop significantly—he has the lowest batting average (.174), slugging (.250), and OPS (.526), along with just 3 RBIs, the fewest among qualified hitters. Simply put, when Nootbaar hits well, the Cardinals usually win. When he struggles, the offense often stalls.
The Cardinals’ lineup performs at its best when Lars Nootbaar is.
Lars Nootbaar snapped out of a recent slump in a big way on Tuesday, going 3-for-4 with a home run, two RBIs, two runs scored, and a walk to power the Cardinals to a 7-4 win over the Orioles. It was a welcome turnaround after an eight-game stretch in which he hit just .125/.171/.156, posting a .328 OPS and a -8 wRC+. During that same period, he managed only one RBI and three runs scored, while the Cardinals’ offense also struggled—ranking among the bottom five teams in MLB in wRC+ (77).
This resurgence is a reminder of why the Cardinals slotted Nootbaar into the leadoff spot to start the season, beginning with their opening series against the Twins. He’s their spark plug—the player who sets the tone by grinding out at-bats, pushing pitch counts, and getting on base to set up the middle of the order. And when the bottom of the lineup turns it over, Nootbaar has the power to do damage himself.
Under manager Oliver Marmol’s lineup structure, Nootbaar often finds himself in key spots—either setting the table for hitters like Masyn Winn, Brendan Donovan, Willson Contreras, and Ivan Herrera or driving in runners like Jordan Walker and Victor Scott. Sometimes, he’s doing both. That versatility and impact make it tough to envision the Cardinals moving away from him as their leadoff hitter anytime soon, even with capable alternatives like Donovan, Herrera, Scott, and Winn.
Cold stretches will come—that’s just part of baseball—but the best players keep them short. Nootbaar’s recent slide was brutal, but brief. Before the slump, he was hitting .260/.374/.434 with an .807 OPS and a 129 wRC+, excellent production from a leadoff man. Now back up to a 117 wRC+ on the season—just above his career average—he appears to be trending in the right direction again, with every reason to believe he can push that number back above 120 soon.
While others like Herrera and Donovan have been the team’s most consistent bats this year, Nootbaar remains a central figure in the Cardinals’ success. When he’s right, everything seems to fall into place—and Tuesday’s breakout may have been the first step in getting him back on track as May winds down.
