Lars Nootbaar #21

..Played college baseball at the University of Southern California where he combined to bat .272 with 14 HR and 74 RBI over 141 collegiate games for the Trojans (2016-18)...Was drafted in 2018 by Scouting Director, Randy Flores, who also played collegiately at USC...Twice knocked in the game-winning run while playing against UCLA in a crosstown rivalry game at the Dodger Stadium College Baseball Classic. First time came on March 5, 2017 where he recorded three RBI, two on a triple, and a third RBI for the 10th inning game-winner in a 4-3 victory. The second came on an eighth inning solo home run on March 11, 2018, to break a 2-2 tie...Played for Orleans in the Cape Cod League in 2017, batting .252 with a .457 on-base percentage in 35 games...Played for La Crosse in the Northwoods League as a freshman...As a prep, played shortstop for El Segundo High School where he was a two-time league Most Valuable Player in football and baseball, leading the football team to a 10-0 regular season record and the CIF semi-finals in 2013 as a dual-threat quarterback sporting a 4.7-40 yard time while passing for 3,000 yards his junior season and 2,002 yards and 25 touchdowns his senior season...Spent the 2020 season, limited by the COVID-19 outbreak, working manual labor at an aerospace engineering company, lifting and drilling holes as well as moving heavy equipment for the maintenance of fighter jets. He worked 10-hour shifts beginning at 4:45 a.m...His brother, Nigel, was the tight end in high school football and also pitched for the USC Trojans (2012-14). Nigel was a 12th round selection of the Baltimore Orioles in 2014, playing two professional seasons in the minors with Aberdeen and Delmarva before finishing his career in Independent Ball with Normal and Lincoln...His first name comes from his great-great grandfather on the Dutch side of his family. His mother, Kumi, is fullblooded Japanese, in reference to his double middle name Taylor-Tatsuji...Resides in El Segundo, Calif.

2022

Played in 108 games starting 66 in RF, 11 in CF and two in LF. ..Began the season on the Opening Day roster for the first time in his career and was recalled three times during the season...Finished the season hitting safely in his last nine starts (11- 36, .306) with eight XBH (six-2B, two-HR)...His 14 home runs T-4th on the Cardinals (Gorman), also ranked 4th with 51 walks on only 347 plate appearances...Posted a .345 on-base pct. In the lead-off spot, his only batting position with more walks than strikeouts (14:13), and tallied his most runs (15) and hits (15) from the No. 1 spot...Hammered a 452-foot HR (#12) vs. MIL (9/14), longest by a Cardinals player and the longest at Busch Stadium in 2022. ..Hit the first of 14 home runs at CHI (6/3) coming off Cubs infielder Frank Schwindel in the top of the ninth inning of a 14-5 Cardinals rout...Led the Cardinals in average exit velocity among batted balls at 91.7 MPH and 25th among MLB players (min. 200 batted ball events); eighth among National League players...Of his 14 home runs, two ranked in the Top 5 distance and three in the Top 10 exit velocity among Cardinals players...Recorded an assist and putout in a 9-2-5-2-9 DP on 9/9 at PIT (first in STL history). The last MLB OF to start a double play with an assist & end it with a putout was Colorado’s Preston Wilson, who started an 8-4-2-5-2-8 DP that originated with a double by Cincinnati’s Russell Branyan on July 31, 2003...Started 34 consecutive games (7/24-8/30) with the Cardinals posting a 24-10 record while batting .279 (31- 111, 16 RBI)...Hit first lead-off home run at ARI (8/21) off Merrill Kelly. ..Tied for ML lead with 3 triples in August (Ohtani & Realmuto); Lankford five in 1991...California native hammered N.L. West pitching at a .380 (19-50) clip with 12 of his 19 hits for extra bases (five doubles, three triples, four home runs) totaling a 1.376 OPS, the highest mark of any player in MLB (min. 50 PA)...Started and batted lead-off in both Wild Card Series games, hitting safely in each, including a double to lead-off Game Two. Also walked in each game and played all three outfield positions during the two-game series. Recorded an outfield assist in Game Two as his throw to third base was cut-off by Nolan Arenado and fired to Brendan Donovan at second base to nail an advancing Bryce Harper.

2021

Made his Major League debut at Comerica Park on June 22 vs. Detroit. Collected his first hit the following afternoon (6/23) in his first start, a triple at Comerica Park becoming the first Cardinal to triple for his first MLB hit since pitcher Daniel Ponce de Leon...Was invited to Major League Spring Training and spent the first month of the season at the Alternate Training Site before reporting to Memphis (AAA)...His first career home run was a pinch-hit shot at PNC Park (8/12). Would hit his second pinch-hit homer the next day at Kansas City (8/13), becoming the 69th player in MLB history to hit a home run in exactly one plate appearance in consecutive games...Was part of three Cardinals back-to-back home runs, including twice in the second game of a doubleheader on 9/24 at Chicago Cubs, his first career multi-home run game...Snapped an 0-for-23 slide with a multi-homer game at Wrigley Field (9/24) in Game 2 of the doubleheader. Finished the season batting .444 (8-18) in his final seven games...Batted .346 (9-26) with RISP and .385 (5-13) w/ 2 outs...Recorded three outfield assists with two in his first four games...Suffered a right hand injury (5/28-6/13) after fouling a pitch off at Memphis (AAA)...Played for Glendale in the Arizona Fall League and was named a Rising Star. Hit a lead-off home run in his second game on the first pitch, part of a multi-home run effort at Peoria. ..Hit for the cycle at Scottsdale (10/29) with a double, triple, game-tying home run in the 9th inning and an infield single in the 11th inning, following a four-pitch walk to lead-off the game.

2020

Did not play due to the COVID-19 canceling the minor league season.

2019

Advanced three levels during the 2019 season, starting in Peoria (A) playing in 29 games, then advanced to Palm Beach (A) where he played in 39 games and finished the season in Springfield (AA) playing in 33 games, where he posted his highest on-base percentage at .373...Led all Palm Beach outfielders with 10 outfield assists in 2019, while playing in only 39 games. Had a career-best 16 outfield assists on the season...Drew a career-high four walks vs. Quad Cities (4/22/19).