Cardinals Rising Star Dealing With Tough Injury But Trending In Right Direction

St. Louis already is dealing with a handful of injuries

One of the St. Louis Cardinals outfielders is dealing with a tough injury right now.

Cardinals outfielder Lars Nootbaar has missed the club's last few Spring Training contests as he's dealt with a rib injury.

While this is the case, missing the games is only seen as precautionary at this point and he shouldn't miss much time, according to MLB.com's John Denton.

"Cardinals manager Oli Marmol said Lars Nootbaar (rib soreness) is being withheld as a precautionary measure," Denton said. "He jammed his elbow into his ribs while trying to make a twisting catch and falling vs. the (Houston Astros) on Saturday. He's been unavailable for the last four games, including today."

Nootbaar is expected to play a massive role with the Cardinals in 2024. The young outfielder has dealt with a plethora of injuries throughout his career so far and only was able to appear in 117 games last season. 

He took a massive step forward last year, but injuries remain a serious question for him. Nootbaar currently is dealing with his rib injury, but it's positive that he is just being held out for precautionary reasons. 

St. Louis seemingly is a better place on paper heading into the 2024 campaign, but the club already is being bitten by the injury bug. The Cardinals already have lost ace Sonny Gray to an injury and Nootbaar also is out.

The Cardinals should be able to compete for a playoff spot in 2024, but injuries are going to be a major storyline to follow moving forward.

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