The St. Louis Cardinals have a much-needed day off on Thursday before kicking off a three-game series against the Cincinnati Reds at home on Friday night. St. Louis got back into the win column in the series finale against the Texas Rangers on Wednesday after dropping the first two games of the series. Right now, the Cardinals are 32-28 and are tied for second place in the National League Central with the Pittsburgh Pirates. The Milwaukee Brewers are in first place in the division at 37-22. The Cardinals have been very good all season to this point, despite not having one of their key outfielders in the mix for a single game this season. While this is the case, it will change on Friday. It was shared earlier in the week that the expectation was that Lars Nootbaar would be activated from the Injured List and in the lineup on Friday, if he didn't have any setbacks in his final week on a minor league rehab assignment. After the game on Wednesday, Cardinals manager Oli Marmol confirmed that Nootbaar has passed all of the tests and will officially be activated on Friday, as shared on X by Jeff Jones of the Belleville News-Democrat. Lars Nootbaar Is Coming BackSep 23, 2025; San Francisco, California, USA; St. Louis Cardinals left fielder Lars Nootbaar (21) stands at bat against the San Francisco Giants during the first inning at Oracle Park. Mandatory Credit: Eakin Howard-Imagn Images | Eakin Howard-Imagn Images"As anticipated, Marmol said postgame that Lars Nootbaar will come off the IL on Friday," Jones wrote. So, the Cardinals have been good so far this season and are four games above .500. Now, they're going to get a legit bat back near the top of the order in Nootbaar. Last year, he was dealing with the Haglund’s deformities, which eventually led to surgeries on both of his heels after the season. Unsurprisingly, it impacted his offensive game. But now he's fully healthy. In 12 games down in the minors, Nootbaar slashed .257/.409/.543 with a .952 OPS, three homers, eight RBIs, nine walks, and one double. He walked more than he struck out with nine walks to just six strikeouts. OF Lars Nootbaar launches a lead off HR to start the scoring for Triple-A Memphis!It marks his 3rd home run over his 12 minor league rehab games. pic.twitter.com/lqQK52sQ4k— Cardinals Player Development (@CardsPlayerDev) June 3, 2026He has looked ready to go and now will slot into the Cardinals' lineup beginning on Friday. In the short term, this doesn't complicate the outfield picture much. St. Louis can easily roll with Nootbaar in left field, Victor Scott II in center field, and Jordan Walker in right field. Nelson Velázquez can easily be used as a fourth outfielder and designated hitter option. Things won't get complicated until Nathan Church returns as well. Then, the club is going to have a decision to make. That's a question for another day. The important thing right now is that Nootbaar is coming back. Add us as a preferred source on GoogleFollow