Nootbaar is the 264th former Northwoods League player to debut in MLB
Rochester, Minn. – Former La Crosse Logger Lars Nootbaar, made his Major League debut for the St. Louis Cardinals on Tuesday, June 22, 2021. Nootbaar is the 264th former Northwoods League player to reach the Major League level.
Nootbaar, who played collegiately at the University of Southern California, played for the La Crosse Loggers in 2016. He was drafted by the St. Louis Cardinals in the 8th round of the 2018 MLB draft.
In 2016 with the Loggers, Nootbaar played in 21 games and hit .329 with one home run, four doubles and eight RBI.
Nootbaar began his professional career in 2018 with the State College Spikes of the Short-Season A New York-Penn League. In 56 games he hit .227 with two home runs, five doubles and 14 runs scored. He drove in 26 and stole two bases while walking 22 times.
Nootbaar started the 2019 season with the Peoria Chiefs of the Lo-A Midwest League. After 29 games he was promoted to the Palm Beach Cardinals of the Hi-A Florida State League. He would play in 39 games in Palm Beach before a promotion, to finish the season, to the Springfield Cardinals of the AA Texas League. For the year he hit a combined .264 with seven home runs, nine doubles and two triples. He drove in 38 runs, stole four bases, and walked 45 times.
Nootbaar was called up by the Cardinals on June 22 from the AAA-East Memphis Redbirds. In 22 games with Memphis, he was hitting .329 with five home runs and 18 runs driven in. In his Major League debut against the Detroit Tigers, Nootbaar started the game in left field and went 0 for 3 at the plate with a sacrifice fly for his first Major League RBI.
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The Northwoods League is the proven leader in the development of elite college baseball players. Now in its’ 28th season, the Northwoods League is the largest organized baseball league in the world with 22 teams, drawing significantly more fans, in a friendly ballpark experience, than any league of its kind. A valuable training ground for coaches, umpires and front office staff, over 260 Northwoods League players have advanced to Major League Baseball, including three-time All-Star and 2016 Roberto Clemente Award winner Curtis Granderson, three-time Cy Young Award winner and World Series Champion Max Scherzer (WAS), two-time World Series Champions Ben Zobrist and Brandon Crawford (SFG) and World Series Champion Chris Sale (BOS). As well as 2019 Rookie of the Year and Home Run Derby Champion Pete Alonso (NYM) and MLB Gold Glove finalist and 2019 Second Team All-MLB shortstop Marcus Semien (TOR). All league games are viewable live via the Northwoods League website. For more information, visit www.northwoodsleague.com or download the Northwoods League Mobile App on the Apple App Store or on Google Play.