Lars Nootbaar

Nootbaar grew up in El Segundo, California, and attended El Segundo High School, where he played baseball and football. He was a three-time League MVP in baseball and twice in football as the Eagles' starting quarterback.[1] He committed to play college baseball at the University of Southern California (USC) and was recruited to play college football by UC Davis and Fordham.[2]

Nootbaar was a three-year starter for the USC Trojans, where his older brother Nigel had previously played.[3] He was named All-Pac-12 Conference as a sophomore after hitting .313 with 34 RBIs, 33 runs scored and seven home runs.[4] Following the season, he played collegiate summer baseball with the Orleans Firebirds of the Cape Cod Baseball League.[5] As a junior, Nootbaar batted .249 with six home runs and 24 RBIs.[6]

The St. Louis Cardinals selected Nootbaar in the eighth round of the 2018 Major League Baseball draft.[7] After signing with the team he was assigned to the State College Spikes of the Class A Short Season New York–Penn League, where he set a team record with seven RBIs in one game.[8] For the season, he hit .227 with two home runs and 26 RBIs over 56 games. Nootbaar began the 2019 season with the Class A Peoria Chiefs of the Midwest League before being promoted to the Class A-Advanced Palm Beach Cardinals of the Florida State League.[3][9] He was promoted a second time to the Springfield Cardinals of the Class AA Texas League. Over 101 games between the three clubs, he batted .264 with seven home runs and 38 RBIs.[10] Nootbaar did not play in a game in 2020 due to the cancellation of the minor league season because of the COVID-19 pandemic.[11]

Nootbaar began the 2021 season at the Cardinals' alternate training site before being reassigned to the Triple-A East Memphis Redbirds.[12] He was placed on the injured list with a hand injury on May 28, and was activated on June 14.[13]

On June 22, 2021, Nootbaar was selected to the 40-man roster and promoted to the major leagues for the first time.[14] At the time of his promotion, he was slashing .329/.430/.557 with five home runs and 17 RBIs over 22 games.[15] He made his MLB debut that day as the starting left fielder against the Detroit Tigers.[16] The following day, Nootbaar recorded his first career hit, a triple.[17] He hit his first career home run as a pinch-hitter off J. T. Brubaker in a 7-6 win over the Pittsburgh Pirates on August 12, 2021.[18] Nootbaar hit another pinch hit home run the next day in a 6-0 victory over the Kansas City Royals.[19] On August 25, 2021, Nootbaar would record his first career walk-off hit, a single in the 10th inning against Tigers relief pitcher Michael Fulmer.[20] Nootbaar finished the 2021 season slashing .239/.317/.422 with five home runs and 15 RBIs over 109 at-bats.[21] He was selected to play in the Arizona Fall League for the Glendale Desert Dogs after the season.[22]

Nootbaar's father, who is American of Dutch descent, met his mother, who is Japanese, while they were students at Cal Poly San Luis Obispo.[15] His older brother, Nigel, was a pitcher at USC and played professionally in the Baltimore Orioles system.[3]

• Career statistics and player information from MLB, or ESPN, or Baseball Reference, or Fangraphs, or Baseball Reference (Minors)
• USC Trojans bio