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The St. Louis Cardinals came into 2025 expecting to be near the bottom of the National League Central division. However, Oliver Marmol has led his team to a surprising start two months into the season. The Cardinals' success frustrates the rest of the league, which thought they could trade for the veterans on their roster. While Nolan Arenado is available for trade, players like Brendan Donovan and Willson Contreras are less likely to move. However, one player should remain in St. Louis: Lars Nootbaar.
Marmol's left fielder is the oldest member of the Cardinals' outfield. However, he is by far the most effective of the three, both in the field and at the plate. Throughout his five years in the major leagues, the 27-year-old is one of the more well-rounded players in St. Louis. While he is a better hitter than anything else, his potential for the future makes him an exciting player entering his prime. The Cardinals hope he can realize that growth and become the team's next star.
Nootbaar is on pace to crush his previous career-highs across the board in 2025. He has missed just two games so far this season, setting him up well to play more games than ever before. With that comes better season totals in all of his statistics. The outfielder needs six more home runs to match the best mark of his career, for example. While this season could be considered an outlier by some fans, St. Louis could view it as a sign of what is to come.
Nootbaar and Jordan Walker are the faces of the youth movement taking place in the Cardinals organization. However, Marmol and the team could decide that Nootbaar's upside is greater than the players around him on the roster.
Lars Nootbaar could fill the big shoes Paul Goldschmidt left behind
After another good season from Paul Goldschmidt, the Cardinals decided that it was time to move on. They allowed the former American League MVP to walk away in free agency. Goldschmidt ended up with the New York Yankees and is having another impactful season. St. Louis would not have let him go so easily if they did not think that they had an heir apparent already on their roster. Nootbaar's start of the season has fans thinking that he could take on that responsibility.
Nootbaar does not have his name in the MVP conversation yet, but Goldschmidt was 34 when he won his MVP award. Marmol and the Cardinals have time to see if their young outfielder has a chance to grow into that kind of star. Right now, they are happy to see him healthy and on the field for the majority of the season. His talent and work ethic have helped him become a productive player, and the sky's the limit when it comes to his development.
Nootbaar will likely never be a player who can put St. Louis on his back and carry them to wins. Luckily for him, that is not how the Cardinals operate. Goldschmidt might have been the leader during his career, but he was never alone. Yadier Molina, Adam Wainwright, and Marmol led the team alongside him as they strung together competitive seasons throughout the 2010s. Nootbaar's supporting cast will be different, but Marmol is ready to grow with him.
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St. Louis' manager is the youngest in Major League Baseball by five years. He is still climbing the ranks as a manager in the league, similar to Nootbaars' steady development. Those two, along with a young player with a high ceiling like Masyn Winn, could become an iconic trio in Cardinals history.
Nootbaar can help the team get valuable postseason experience
Most of the veterans on St. Louis' roster have all been in the postseason at least once. However, players like Contreras and Arenado are not a part of the Cardinals' long-term plans. Instead, Nootbaar is expected to lead the team back to the promised land and help the roster get some much-needed experience in the playoffs. Having playoff battles under their belt could help the team's young players grow up quickly and figure out where the real holes in their games are.
The last time St. Louis was in the playoffs in 2022, Nootbaar was the young talent on the roster. He, along with Ivan Herrera, Brendan Donovan, Alec Burleson, Nolan Gorman, and Matthew Liberatore, are the only players left on the roster from that run. That team barely got any time in the playoffs anyway, getting swept by the Royals in the Wild Card round.
While the Cardinals are not in a position to make a deep playoff run this season, their goal should still be to earn a playoff berth. The stiff competition for the NL wild card spots and their battle within their division could show the team just how far they have to go.
St. Louis has major decisions ahead of them when it comes to navigating the trade deadline. However, each of their moves should be made with the team's long-term future in mind. Because of that, none of the Cardinals' young players are expected to be dealt, especially Nootbaar. If things go according to plan, the left fielder and his teammates will define the next era of baseball in St. Louis.
