Cardinals' Lars Nootbaar: Could return to big club Sunday

Cardinals manager Oli Marmol said Saturday that he will have a postgame call with Nootbaar (oblique) to determine whether the 26-year-old is ready to return from his rehab assignment with Triple-A Springfield, John Denton of MLB.com reports.

Katie Woo of The Athletic reported Friday that Nootbaar was expected to remain in Springfield over the weekend to work on his timing. In his last rehab outing Friday, Nootbaar went 2-for-5 with a solo home run, and if he and Marmol agree that more reps in the minors aren't needed, a return to the Cardinals could happen as early as Sunday in Washington. Prior to his injury, Nootbaar was slashing .234/.337/.404 with five home runs and 19 RBI across 164 major-league plate appearances.