Cardinals Fan Favorite Outfielder 'Primed' For Best Season Of Career

A St. Louis star player is geared up for success

Jul 15, 2023; St. Louis, Missouri, USA; St. Louis Cardinals left fielder Alec Burleson (41) and / Jeff Le-USA TODAY Sports

The St. Louis Cardinals have been a difficult team to watch so far this season as the offense continues to struggle at putting runs on the board.

The lineup certainly has enough weapons to be a playoff-caliber hitting team but something isn't working right now as the club cannot seem to remain consistent at scoring runs.

The Cardinals need batters to start getting hot soon and hopefully, a player who recently returned from the injured list will live up to expectations and help turn things around for St. Louis.

"At 26, with that elite combo of plate discipline, contact ability, and bat speed -- only one player has a better combination of contact rate, chase rate, and maximum exit velocity -- and some added feel for lifting the ball to the pull side, (Lars) Nootbaar could be primed for the best season of his career," The Athletic's Eno Sarris wrote Wednesday.

Nootbaar is batting .216 with three extra-base hits including one home run, five RBIs and a .707 OPS in 37 at-bats for the Cardinals since making his return from fracturing his ribs at spring training back in early March.

The fan-favorite outfielder has focused on improving his bat speed while also paying close attention to getting the barrel of the bat into the zone correctly -- modeling after five-time Silver Slugger Nolan Arenado's swing.

The homegrown talent logged a .261/.367/.418 slash line with 14 home runs and 111 hits in 117 games played last season. Nootbar also ranked in the 98th and 95th percentile for chased balls and walks in 2023, according to Baseball Savant -- proving his strict discipline at the plate.

With having only played in 11 games so far in 2024, it's too early to say whether Nootbaar is going to have his best season but with his plate discipline, ability to get the bat on the ball and newly improved swing, hopefully, we're in for a show from the talented outfielder.

More MLB: Cardinals Rising Star Optioned To Minors After Disappointing Start To Season