Cardinals finally get injury update that can help keep Wild Card fight alive

The St. Louis Cardinals got off to a brutal start to their season, at one point being as many as nine games under .500, but have since come storming back to not only get over the .500 mark but to enter Friday's action in sole possession of the third Wild Card spot in the NL.

What's been most impressive about their high-level play of late is that they've been winning without several of their key contributors. Willson Contreras missed substantial time with an injury. Tommy Edman has been out all year. Even Lars Nootbaar has been out for almost a full month now.

Well, the tides are turning a bit on that front. Contreras is back from his injury, and the Cardinals got the update that fans have been waiting for with Nootbaar.

The 26-year-old had been out with an oblique injury but is slated to begin a rehab assignment on Friday for AA Springfield. That means that Nootbaar is nearing his return.

Cardinals get much-needed Lars Nootbaar injury update

What was most unfortunate about Nootbaar's injury is that he was red-hot before landing on the IL. He was slashing .342/.419/.579 with two home runs and seven RBI in his last 10 games before the injury, which was encouraging following his very slow start to the 2024 campaign.

Getting Nootbaar back, especially if he can get hot again, is huge for this Cardinals team. Their offense has started to pick it up in general, which is the main reason why they've been able to win as much as they have, and Nootbaar at his best can be a major contributor.

Once Nootbaar is able to return, that'd allow the Cardinals to sit Matt Carpenter who has been their primary DH against right-handed pitching, on the bench. Carpenter was once an All-Star for the Cardinals but has just a .649 OPS in 83 at-bats this season. The Cardinals can replace Carpenter with Alec Burleson at DH and can slot Nootbaar in right field.

Nootbaar might not be the biggest name, but he's been consistently above league average as a hitter and can hit the ball out of the ballpark. This Cardinals offense still needs players like Paul Goldschmidt and Nolan Arenado to step up for it to reach its full potential, but Nootbaar nearing a return with this team currently in a postseason spot out of this writing is a great thing.