Finding Fan Favorities: Outfielder Lars Nootbaar has a reputation of stardom

Lars Nootbaar has always flown under the radar. 

Maybe this is because of his professional baseball career’s humble beginnings when he was selected in the eighth round of the 2018 MLB draft and 243rd overall by the St. Louis Cardinals. 

The players that have superstar potential are scooped up within the first  picks of the MLB draft. Everyone who is predicted as a future great is long gone before the 243rd pick rolls around. 

Except Nootbaar has always been a star and he hasn’t stopped stealing the spotlight. 

A star athlete since high school, Nootbaar played two sports at El Segundo High School and was a three-time league MVP in baseball and a two-time league MVP as the football team’s quarterback. 

Nootbaar then chose to further his baseball career at USC, where he played three seasons for the Trojans and was named to the All Pac-12 team as a sophomore. 

He had a solid minor league debut season in 2018, but his professional career really took off during the following year. Nootbaar played his way through three levels of the minor leagues in 2019, where he hit a very solid .264 with a .349 on base percentage across the three levels. 

Nootbaar’s career was put on hold in 2020 due to the coronavirus pandemic. However, that didn’t stop the momentum he had built. Nootbaar started 2021 in Triple-A, the highest level of minor league baseball, where his superb .308 average caught the attention of the Cardinals’ coaching staff. He was called up on June 22. 

Nootbaar was in the majors, fittingly still repping the Cardinal and Gold with a team that wears “Cardinals” across its chest during home games. During the rest of the season, he settled into a role as the team’s fourth outfielder and even made the postseason roster for the Wild Card game against the Dodgers. 

So why didn’t the baseball world see this coming and draft him accordingly? Why was his draft outlook so poor even though he’s been a star on every team he has played on since high school? 

The answer is home runs. 

While Nootbaar has always been an outstanding defender and contact hitter, his power numbers have never been eye-popping. He only hit 14 home runs total in his three seasons at USC and only has 15 in his minor league career. 

The modern game of baseball is, unfortunately for Nootbaar, a game centered around the home run. Teams stack their rosters with power hitters who can run up the score with a single swing, and fans clamor to see home runs more than anything. 

Because of this, Nootbaar has gone unnoticed by fans who are focused on players who can hit more home runs. 

However, it’s not all bad news for Nootbaar.  For one thing, baseball games cannot be won on home runs alone. His defense and contact-hitting ability are valuable to any team, even if both skills have become underappreciated. 

For another, he may have found his home run swing. After the 2021 season, the Cardinals sent Nootbaar to the Arizona Fall League, a developmental league where he faced other top MLB prospects, where he enjoyed a fantastic fall season. Most notably, his home run rate was 5.7% — a  rate that, if sustained, would be better than MLB superstar Freddie Freeman’s rate in 2021. 

Nootbaar also has a flair for those who love drama. His first MLB home run was a pinch-hit, tie-breaking home run against the Pirates Aug. 12. On Sept. 15, he made a jumping catch to rob Pete Alonso of a homer and all but seal the game for St. Louis. 

He’s also one of the most fun and unique personalities in the game. He has a last name that is begging for a candy bar to be made with his namesake. He wears number 68, a very unique jersey number. He sticks his tongue out like Michael Jordan when he makes a dramatic defensive play. 

Because of all this, Nootbaar is already a fan-favorite amongst Cardinals fans, who have already started chanting “NOOT” whenever he makes a notable play. 

Don’t make the same mistake that MLB scouts did and miss out on the superstar play of the next great Trojan baseball alumnus. 

Nootbaar is poised for a breakout season in 2022. Take note. Or, take Noot. 

Ethan Inman is a freshman writing about exceptional USC athletic alumni who are relatively unknown despite their achievements. His column, “Finding Fan Favorites,” runs every other Thursday.