Cardinals rumors: Player speaks on Goldschmidt trade, Nootbaar, more

Today’s St. Louis Cardinals rumors roundup looks at a former player’s take on a Paul Goldschmidt trade, good news on Lars Nootbaar, and more.

The St. Louis Cardinals might be last in the NL Central, but I think there’s a way they can get creative to try to improve in at least one area. It involves them ripping off something their rival Chicago Cubs have been trying on the mound and having success with: Pitchers calling their own throws.

I don’t know if it would pan out as well for St. Louis as it has been for both Chicago teams (Dylan Cease is doing it with the White Sox, too), but clearly, something is up with the pitching in St. Louis this year. While I don’t buy the idea that Willson Contreras needs to shoulder the blame, I also don’t know how an entire staff would go from decent to bad this quickly. The only clear single variable to single out is the change from Yadier Molina to Contreras. Maybe pitchers calling their own sequencing would help?

It certainly can’t put them in a worse-off position…

But enough about that. Today, we’re rounding up some news and rumors related to the Redbirds. Let’s get into it.

Lars Nootbaar is back

Lars Nootbaar has officially been activated off the injured list on Monday morning:

In a corresponding move, the Cardinals sent Luken Baker down. Nootbaar has been going through a back injury, out since May 29th. Nootbaar’s OPS is down so far this year compared to last, but he raked in his final Triple-A Memphis appearance.

After going 0-for-4 on Saturday, Nootbaar went 4-for-5 on Sunday afternoon with two home runs and 4 RBI. He’ll bring some youth and excitement back to the lineup.