JUPITER, Fla. -- Blissfully unaware of the online sensation he had become due to his insistence on avoiding Twitter, Cardinals outfielder Lars Nootbaar had quite a chuckle upon discovering a file photo of Babe Ruth had circulated this offseason to represent his surging popularity.
“I don’t hear that stuff, but that’s funny,” said Nootbaar, who resembled "The Sultan of Swat" when he cranked four batting practice home runs in a five-pitch sequence on Tuesday. “Twitter’s a crazy place, and I miss out on some stuff, but that’s OK.”
The momentum behind Nootbaar, 25, heading into the 2023 season is palpable after the way he finished '22, working tirelessly to make improvements. Following a second half in which he hit 10 home runs and had an .846 OPS and a .366 on-base percentage, Nootbaar’s hype train hit warp speed when he registered a 109.2 mph exit velocity while working at Driveline's hitting academy in Southern California. Those numbers came on the heels of him ranking in the 90th percentile in exit velocity among MLB hitters and the 80th percentile in hard-hit balls.
While Nootbaar prefers to mostly ignore the hoopla surrounding his chances of becoming a breakout player, he admitted to quietly thinking about the player he could become this season.
“The main thing that goes through my head -- and what keeps me up at night -- is playing a night playoff game in St. Louis, hearing the crowd and being the player who can do something that really matters,” said Nootbaar, referring to his Game 2 start in the playoffs last October. “The night before [high-school] football games, I would picture myself scoring touchdowns, and now I’m up at night envisioning the crowd and getting goosebumps after thinking about making a play. That’s what motivates me.”
Unlike a year ago, when Nootbaar was fighting for a place on the Opening Day roster, he is now battling for a starting spot in a crowded Cardinals outfield. Tyler O’Neill and Dylan Carlson are trying to bounce back from down seasons, while youngsters Jordan Walker, Juan Yepez and Alec Burleson are attempting to elbow into the mix. Meanwhile, Nootbaar is hoping to ride his momentum to earn a long-term job with the Cardinals.
“More than any other year, I would say there’s going to be a lot of competition,” manager Oliver Marmol said. “There are a lot of spots where if you take your foot off the pedal, you will get passed.”
There’s no fear of Nootbaar being unwilling to work; his hands are full of callouses from his numerous hitting sessions. A watershed moment in Nootbaar’s career came last July during the All-Star break, when he spent far more time in the batting cages than he did at the beach near his Manhattan Beach, Calif., home. Those tireless, two-a-day sessions, many of them alongside NL MVP finalist Nolan Arenado, not only paved the way for the high-energy outfielder’s breakout performance, but they altered the course of his career.
Two times when reality hit hard for Nootbaar -- getting a manual labor job sanding air ducts on airplanes in 2020, when the Minor League season was canceled, and being demoted to Triple-A early last season -- drive him to keep working and to stay grounded.
“Being around guys like Nolan has taught me, ‘What are you going to do when something bad happens? Are you going to sit there and sulk, or are you going to work?’” Nootbaar said. “I realized I’ve got to look myself in the mirror and not ever feel sorry for myself. I have to work if I want anything. Over the All-Star break, that’s what I did: I worked. … I’m pissed I’m not where I want to be yet. So getting to work and getting some nice results showed me there’s no substitute for hard work.”
Nootbaar’s success and surging popularity caught the attention of baseball executives in Japan -- the home nation of his mother, Kumi -- and an invitation to play in the World Baseball Classic followed. Soon, he’ll become the first player born outside of Japan to play for the nation’s Classic team. Those high-leverage games should put him on the launching pad to potentially reaching the heights fans set for him.
“It was a tough decision [to play in the Classic], but I’m going to be playing baseball in the Tokyo Dome where it’s sold out with 55,000 fans,” he said. “I looked at it as a challenge I’ll use to get a role [with the Cardinals]. I’ll play my butt off and act like it’s October in March."