St. Louis Cardinals outfielder Lars Nootbaar will be a few days behind other position players in reporting for spring training as a result of the double heel surgery he had this offseason.

Jeff Jones of the Belleville-Democrat had that information on social media:

Lars Nootbaar will be a couple days delayed in reporting to camp as a consequence of his rehab. He is in a spot in his progression where he’s running on an altered gravity treadmill, and the Cardinals have not yet had one delivered (but will) because of the construction.

The injury also took Nootbaar out of consideration for a return to Team Japan at the World Baseball Classic. He played for the Japanese team in 2023, helping them win the gold medal over Team USA in one of the best baseball games in recent memory.

Now 28 years old, Nootbaar is under team control for two more seasons. A career .242 hitter, he had 13 homers a season ago. 

There was plenty of speculation about the Cardinals trading him this offseason, but that never quite made sense because of the injury situation. St. Louis might move him, but they are better served doing so at the trade deadline once they've given him a chance to get re-established.

A former eighth-round pick of the Cardinals (2018) out of Southern California, Nootbaar made his major league debut in 2021. His .242 career average comes with 58 lifetime homers and 28 stolen bases. He's generally regarded as a solid defender.

--Cardinals catcher Ivan Herrera is unlikely to play in the World Baseball Classic because of the elbow surgery he had in the offseason. Insurance issues have plagued many players during this WBC cycle, and those who had surgery in the offseason have been almost impossible to get clearance for. Catching prospect Leonardo Bernal will play for Panama, which is where Herrera is fun.

The following players were announced as playing in the WBC:

1) Riley O'Brien (Korea)

2) Thomas Saggese (Italy)

3) Ivan Herrera (Panama)

4) Leonardo Bernal (Panama)

5) Matt Koperniak (Great Britain)

6) Luis Gastelum (Mexico)

7) Zach Levenson (Israel)

8) Noah Mendlinger (Israel)

9) Gordon Graceffo (Italy)

10) Bryan Torres (Puerto Rico)

--A pair of former Cardinals found new homes on Wednesday, with starting pitcher Miles Mikolas signing with the Washington Nationals and reliever John King signing with the Miami Marlins. Both had been valuable contributors to the Cardinals over the last several years.

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