Lars Nootbaar, who had surgeries in October to remove Haglund’s deformities from both of his heels, is about 10 days away from returning to Minor League games. The Cardinals hope to get the outfielder back by the end of May.
Knowing Lars Nootbaar’s excitable, high-energy persona and his growing anxiety over missing the start of the 2026 season, the Cardinals recently recalled the outfielder from Florida so that he could do his rehabilitation in St. Louis and be around his MLB teammates for a few days.
With Nootbaar approximately 10 days away from returning to Minor League games after a winter where he had surgeries to remove deformities from both of his heels, the Cardinals are proud that the sweet-swinging lefty returned to St. Louis for a few days so that he doesn’t rush back to the big leagues.
“We brought him up here for a little bit just to keep him sane,” Cardinals’ manager Olivert Marmol said of Nootbaar, who was in St. Louis during the team’s series against the Red Sox (April 10-12). “Him being with us for a little bit kind of toned that (anxiety) down a little bit and maybe we got ahead of it.”
Sore and in pain much of the 2025 season, Nootbaar underwent surgeries to remove the Haglund’s deformities -- a bony bump at the back of the heel that can cause significant pain and limit mobility – in October. He went from a wheelchair to crutches to walking boots in the months before Spring Training. After spending several weeks rehabilitating at the club’s Spring Training headquarters in Jupiter, Fla., Nootbaar has been cleared to play games again.
“He’ll have some game activity the week of (April) the 10th, and we’ll kind of create a Spring Training for him, basically,” Marmol said.
Marmol didn’t disclose where Nootbaar will begin his rehab, but he is expected to be brought along slowly. He’ll start off at designated hitter, and he then will slowly build his innings played over a period before playing in consecutive games.
Marmol said the hope is that when Nootbaar returns to the Cardinals there will be no restrictions over his usage as an outfielder Nootbaar, who is scheduled to come off the 60-day Injured List by the end of May, is expected to be ready for a comeback by then.
“The goal will be that when he comes back, he will be a regular baseball player,” Marmol said.
The Cardinals have gotten a tremendous lift from rookie Nathan Church, who has handled much of the left field game action with Nootbaar out the entire season. In addition to hitting five homers, Church has robbed three home runs, including the game-preserving catch in a win in Pittsburgh on Wednesday.
Nootbaar wore down in 2025 after strong start
Nootbaar, 28, got off to a strong start in 2025, but he appeared to wear down physically as the year wore on -- something that could have been attributed to the pain he felt in his legs and feet. He set new career highs in games played (135), hits (119), total bases (184), doubles (24) and RBI (48), but slashed just .234/.325/.361/.686 while hitting 13 homers.
Marmol said it feels good to finally have some clarity on Nootbaar’s return. He’s also happy that the likable outfielder has been able to pass several running tests along the way while moving close to a return.
“You’re not exactly sure what it’s going to look like with the running progression that he’s been put through over the last 30 days and we’ve had to listen to his feedback and his overall body more than anything else,” Marmol said. “But we’ve come out of all of that feeling really good and now we’re a week or so away from him starting games, which is awesome.”
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