CINCINNATI -- One school of thought, Cardinals manager Oliver Marmol said, is to slide Lars Nootbaar down into the heart of the batting order where his ability to drive the ball over the wall and deep into the gaps might help the club be more efficient with run production.
Then there are the analytical types, who argue that a team’s most complete hitter should always be positioned at second in the order -- a spot that would certainly fit Nootbaar’s rare abilities as both a patient and powerful hitter.
Ultimately, Marmol fell back on the tried-and-true practice of not changing something that is working well. Keeping Nootbaar in the leadoff spot, where he has been a driver of the offense with his many ways to get on base, won’t be changing any time soon.
“[Nootbaar’s] going to take the same at-bat, regardless of if he's leading off or hitting third,” said Marmol, whose Cardinals lost 9-1 to the Reds on Thursday at Great American Ball Park to split the four-game series. “But [with Nootbaar leading off], we start [almost] every game with somebody on. I mean, it feels that way. You just know that you're going to have a super professional at-bat to start every game.”
Incredibly, Nootbaar coaxed 11 game-opening walks in March and April -- a team record and one shy of the MLB mark for game-opening walks in a month set by Washington’s Eddie Yost in August of 1952. His 25 walks overall rank second in MLB, he has more free passes (25) than strikeouts (23) and his on-base percentage (.389) sits 22nd in the league.
Nootbaar’s good eye and stubbornness at the plate -- he reached on a walk in 20 of the Cards' first 31 games before being blanked on Thursday -- isn’t something new to him. Actually, it dates to his days of starting out in baseball at El Segundo (Calif.) Little League.
“I’ve grown to love [walks], but from a younger age and being thrown in that leadoff spot, the old-school mentality was always to see a lot of pitches,” Nootbaar recalled. “Back in Little League, pitchers had pitch counts, so if you can have a six-pitch at-bat, that’s 8% of their 85 pitches for the week and that’s where it stemmed from -- Little League rules. I guess I can thank the Little League committee for worrying about arm health at a young age.”
What separates Nootbaar from most leadoff hitters is his ability to combine a high walk rate (17.9%, the top 97th percentile in MLB) with an impressive hard-hit rate (49.5%, top 83rd percentile in MLB). His low chase rate (18.6%, top 92nd percentile), high average exit velocity (91.3 mph, top 75th percentile) and high average bat speed (74.5 mph, top 88th percentile) have helped Nootbaar produce five home runs, five doubles and a team-best 18 RBIs.
Entering Thursday, Nootbaar was one of seven leadoff hitters in MLB history with at least 25 walks, five homers and 15 RBIs over the first 31 team games of a season. Of course, that list includes Hall of Fame leadoff hitter Rickey Henderson, who had five homers, 15 RBIs, 28 walks and 11 stolen bases for the 1992 Oakland A’s.
Raved Cards teammate Brendan Donovan: “Noot has such a unique combination -- the ability to take your walk and then thump when you come over the middle.”
Having waited for years for Nootbaar to get a run of good health and having resisted multiple trade offers, the Cardinals are finally seeing the kind of do-everything hitter the left-hander can become. His results so far have also led to the Cards dreaming about Nootbaar’s future.
“He could be a very interesting, impactful player because of the combination of his skill set,” Marmol admitted. “You look under the hood and all of it is there, right? He hits the ball hard, he can use the whole field, he picks his spots to drive the baseball out of the park, he does not chase, and then he has a demeanor that will allow him to be very consistent.
“You put that all together and you can dream a little bit.”
Nootbaar has dreamed about having this kind of injury-free run for three years, especially after he landed on the injured list five times over the past two seasons. His strong start, he said, is a culmination of a variety of factors surrounding health, opportunity, improvement and maturity.
“I’m in a better place now than I was two and three years ago,” Nootbaar said. “That comes with experience, and I think confidence has a lot to do with it. But there are parts of it that have always been a part of my game, in terms of walking, being patient and having a decent eye. I’m just trying to do whatever I can to help.”