A pest at the plate for years with his patience and
stellar command of the strike zone, Lars Nootbaar gave some insight into just
one of the many ways he can have major impact on the Cardinals during a lengthy
sixth-inning at bat on Friday night.
Facing the hard-throwing Zach Maxwell, Nootbaar quickly
fell into an 0-2 count before taking two pitches to even the count. Then,
showing off his pesky patience, Nootbaar spoiled two pitches by fouling them
off. On the seventh pitch of the at bat, Nootbaar greeted Maxwell’s 99.4 mph
four-seam fastball with a 105.8 mph laser off the wall in right-center to score Victor
Scott II from first base.
Playing his first MLB game of the season after battling his
way back from double heel surgery last October, Nootbaar had two hits, a
double, an RBI, a run scored and a running catch in left field as the Cardinals
throttled the rival Reds 10-3 at Busch Stadium.
“To be able to have the city behind you lie that and the
fans behind you, it means a lot,” Nootbaar said of standing ovation and chants
of “NOOT” he got before his first at bat,” said Nootbaar, who keyed a five-run
sixth inning to break the game open. “Jogging out there for the first time to
left field, the gave me a big ‘NOOT’ too. I can’t say enough about these fans
because they mean the world to me.”
*inhales*
NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOT!! pic.twitter.com/TdCkaD3CEQ
— St. Louis Cardinals (@Cardinals) June 6, 2026
The Cardinals trailed 3-0 after a half inning, but
systematically rallied back behind 10 hits, an Alec Burleson homer and doubles
by Jordan Walker (two) and Nootbaar. Walker, who had three hits in Wednesday’s
win over Texas, pounded out another three hits on Friday. The 6-foot-6,
250-pound slugger has seven three-hit games this season – the same number he
had while mostly struggling from 2023-25.
Dobbins dominant again in relief
Hunter Dobbins, who impressed the Cardinals with his 3 2/3
innings of relief work for his first professional save on Sunday against the
Cubs, pitched the final five innings for his first St. Louis victory. He
allowed just four hits, while striking out six and walking two over the five
innings of work.
“I think it went really well because (catcher) Jimmy (Crooks)
had a great game plan and the offense gave us the cushion that they did,”
Dobbins said. “That lets you kind of settle in, attack hitters and execute
pitches. Overall, it was just a great team win.”
Hunter Dobbins was dealing out of the pen! 🔥 pic.twitter.com/TIFpVaiRuL
— St. Louis Cardinals (@Cardinals) June 6, 2026
The Cardinals responded to Cincinnati’s 3-0 start with two runs
in the first inning – thanks to two Cincinnati errors and a wild pitch. Reds’
manager Terry Francona was ejected when first baseman Sal Stewart was ruled to
have been pulled off the bag on a play that would have been the third out of
the first inning.
Burleson homered in the third and he scored the go-ahead
run in the fifth inning when Walker doubled to straight-away center with a
103.7 mph smash.
In the sixth inning, the Cardinals sent 12 men to the plate
and scored five times thanks to Nootbaar’s run-scoring double and four walks
and a hit batter by Cincinnati’s struggling bullpen.
Nootbaar drilling the ball off the wall, scoring from
second base and playing nine innings in left field proved that he is feeling
better than ever following the double heel surgery.
“The wheels are holding up – much better than they would
have last season,” Nootbaar said. “I went out there and ran around a little
bit. This is probably the longest I’ve stood on my feet in eight months. I’m proud
I got the surgery because I’ll be able to walk after this. But I’m excited and I
feel good.”
Nootbaar, who said returning at Game 61 of the season made
it feel “like Opening Day for me,” was about before the game about him being
something of a veteran leader now on the young and feisty Cardinals. The
28-year-old Nootbaar is now one of the most veteran players on the Cardinals
after Nolan Arenado, Sonny Gray, Willson Contreras and Brendan Donovan were
traded over the winter.
“It’s a weird, weird feeling, but it’s cool,” Nootbaar told
reporters. “I’ve been around a lot of these guys for a while now, so not a lot
of it has changed. Some guys have reached out to me during the whole rehab
process, so that’s been cool. It’s different, but these guys are definitely
playing well.”
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