St. Louis Cardinals outfielder Lars Nootbaar (abdomen) is not in the lineup for Thursday's series opener against left-hander Jose Quintana and the New York Mets.
Nootbaar exited Wednesday's game with a lower abdomen contusion, but Thursday's absence could be because the Cardinals are facing a left-handed pitcher. Tommy Edman will take over in center field and the leadoff role. Taylor Motter will shift to shortstop while Jose Fermin will start on second base and bat ninth. The Cardinals placed infielder Nolan Gorman on the 10-day injured list Thursday, retroactive to August 14, with a lower-back strain.
numberFire’s models project Edman ($2,900) for 11.6 FanDuel points on Thursday. Per our MLB Heat Map, the Cardinals' implied total is 5.00 and the game total is a batter-friendly 10.5. Quintana has a 3.03 ERA and 4.14 xERA through five starts and 29 2/3 innings this season, with a 31.2% hard-hit rate, 16.3% strikeout rate, and 8.1% walk rate.
Source: MLB.com