Some of Nootbar’s Best Cards
From his rise with the St. Louis Cardinals to becoming a key figure for Team Japan in the World Baseball Classic, Lars Nootbaar has become a global ambassador for the sport. Now, as the MLB World Tour: Tokyo Series kicks off the 2025 season, it’s the perfect time to take a look at some of Nootbaar’s best cards.
2022 Topps Japan Edition #49 Lars Nootbaar RC
player info
• won gold with japan in the 2023 world baseball classic
set info
• international exclusive
• 220 card base set
What they’ve said
• “Nootbaar’s foundation as a hitter is exceptional plate discipline. Really, that’s the reason he’s able to hit the ball hard consistently — Nootbaar doesn’t swing at bad pitches, so he can rip the good ones.” – mlb.com
2022 Topps Inception Patch Autographs Aqua #IAP-LN Lars Nootbaar RC /50
player info
• selected by the cardinals in the 8th round of the 2018 mlb draft
set info
• inception patch autographs boasts 57 cards
what they’ve said
• Nootbaar was one of the league leaders in “blast rate,” one of the most important Statcast bat-tracking stats. A “blast” is a swing where the hitter both has a high bat speed and squares the ball up on the sweet spot of the bat.” – mlb.com
2025 Topps Series 1 #203 Lars Nootbaar
player info
• three-time japan series champion
• three-time central league mvp
set info
• 350 card base set
what they’ve said
• “Since 2022, Nootbaar has a 118 wRC+, meaning he was 18% better than a league-average hitter, which is 61st out of the 230 hitters who have 1000+ plate appearances over that stretch. Even if you shrink that number to a plate appearance minimum of 500, Nootbaar still ranks 73rd out of 420 hitters.” redbirdrants.com
Topps MLB® Living Set® Card #636 Lars Nootbaar
player info
• made mlb debut on june 22, 2021
set info
• online exclusive
What they said
• “If Nootbaar just keeps producing like he is right now, he’s a valuable player and is still underrated by many fans. But the reason Nootbaar continues to get even more attention and hype than that is because there are so many indicators that tell us that if he plays close to a full season, he could see a significant jump in his production.” – redbirdrants.com
2023 World Baseball Classic TOPPS NOW® Card 9 Lars Nootbaar
player info
• the first player not born in japan to represent japan in the world baseball classic
set info
• online exclusive
What they’ve said
• “When you look at Nootbaar’s Baseball Savant page, you might note that he’s in the 82nd percentile or better in whiff percentage, average exit velocity, max exit velocity, hard-hit percentage, walk rate and chase percentage. All this points to a breakout in the making for Nootbaar.” – mlb.com
