The St. Louis Cardinals will start the regular season with right-hander Sonny Gray and outfielder Lars Nootbaar on the injured list, manager Oliver Marmol said Saturday.
Gray has a right hamstring strain that will send him to the 15-day injured list, while Nootbaar is headed to the 10-day IL with multiple nondisplaced rib fractures. The Cardinals already had outfielder Tommy Edman (wrist) headed to the IL to open the season.
Gray, 34, had been slated to start Opening Day on Thursday against the Los Angeles Dodgers, but he suffered the hamstring strain March 4 while throwing 20 pitches against the Washington Nationals.
He was 8-8 with a 2.79 ERA in 32 starts for the Minnesota Twins last season, finishing second in American League Cy Young voting during an All-Star campaign. The three-time All-Star signed a three-year, $75 million contract in November to anchor the Cardinals’ rotation.
Gray missed time twice in the 2022 season with the Twins because of hamstring injuries.
Nootbaar was injured two days before Gray when he fell into a wall after trying to make a twisting, turning catch during a March 2 spring training game.
In 279 career appearances (270 starts), Gray is 98-85 with a 3.47 ERA for the Oakland Athletics (2013-17), New York Yankees (2017-18), Cincinnati Reds (2019-21) and Twins (2022-23).
Nootbaar, 26, batted .261 with 14 home runs and 46 RBIs for the Cardinals last season and has 33 home runs and 101 RBIs in 283 games for the Cardinals over the past three seasons.
The Associated Press and Field Level Media contributed to this report.
