Despite the St. Louis Cardinals falling 4-1 to the Atlanta Braves on April 23, Lars Nootbaar made history with a record-setting display of plate discipline. In the midst of a challenging start to the season for the Cardinals, Nootbaar quietly etched his name alongside baseball royalty by tying a 50-year-old MLB record — eight leadoff walks in a team’s first 25 games. The feat, originally set by Davy Lopes in 1975, is now within Nootbaar’s reach to break, as the Cardinals still have six games left in the month.
The stat was brought to light by reporter Derrick Goold, who posted, “With his leadoff walk today, Lars Nootbaar has tied … wait for it … an MLB record previously set 50 years ago. Nootbaar has 8 leadoff walks in Cardinals‘ first 25 games to match Davy Lopes’ record for most leadoff BB in 1st month. Nootbaar has 6 more games to own record.”
This stretch of success at the plate isn’t a coincidence. Nootbaar, known for his high on-base ability, credited new hitting coach Brant Brown for the improvements in his approach. “He has done a good job of honing in and nipping things in the bud right when he sees them and then it doesn’t go into a downward spiral,” Nootbaar told MLB.com. “He has good plans and he comes in with a good approach.”
While Nootbaar’s record-tying performance was a bright spot, the Cardinals’ overall struggles continue. Now sitting at 10-15 in the NL Central, the team has shown flashes of offensive grit, but the consistency just hasn’t translated into wins. Despite that, manager Oliver Marmol remains optimistic. “We’re playing good ball, the guys are going about it really well, I really like our process and that’s all that we can control,” Marmol said after the game.
The team has managed to hang tough against strong pitching, including recent games against Houston’s Hunter Brown and Atlanta’s elite rotation. “We faced a good arm [on Tuesday] and another one today and we just continue to grind out at bats,” Marmol added. “We continue to play solid baseball.”
There’s still time for the Cardinals to turn things around, and if Nootbaar continues to set the tone at the top of the order, they may just find the rhythm they’ve been searching for. And if he draws one more walk to start a game this month, he’ll stand alone in MLB history.
