Who Should I Trade?

Esmerlyn Valdez for Lars Nootbaar (2026)

Summary
Stats
Projections
News & Notes
Schedule

Who Should I Trade? Player Summaries
	Experts' Pick	Experts' Pick
	Esmerlyn Valdez 1B,LF,RF - PIT	Lars Nootbaar LF,CF,RF - STL
Expert Recommendation	50% Recommended by 3 of 6 experts	50% Recommended by 3 of 6 experts
Rankings

Rest of Season	# 167	# 173
VBR	# 239	# 234

Projections

Runs	18	21
Home Runs	6	5
RBI	20	18
Stolen Bases	0	2
Batting Average	.239	.246

Misc

Injury Alert	-	-

Expert Ranks

Dalton Del Don The Deep Shot	‐	# 147

Mike Maher BettingPros	‐	# 207

Kelly Kirby FantasyPros	# 188	# 161

Chris Welsh FantasyPros	# 99	# 176

Scott Pianowski Yahoo! Sports	# 118	# 178

Kevin Spinelli KevScores	# 128	# 212

Who Should I Trade? Player Statistics
	Esmerlyn Valdez 1B,LF,RF - PIT	Lars Nootbaar LF,CF,RF - STL
2026 Stats


At Bats	133	141

Runs	26	20

Hits	37	35

Singles	14	24

Doubles	8	7

Triples	1	1

Home Runs	14	3

RBI	36	15

Stolen Bases	0	1

Caught Stealing	1	1

Walks	20	23

Strikeouts	56	35

Batting Average	.278	.248

On Base Pct	.374	.352

Slugging Pct	.669	.376

On-base Plus Slugging	1.043	.727

Who Should I Trade? Player Projections
	Esmerlyn Valdez 1B,LF,RF - PIT	Lars Nootbaar LF,CF,RF - STL
2026 Projections


At Bats	130	143

Runs	18	21

Hits	31	35

Singles	18	23

Doubles	6	7

Triples	0	1

Home Runs	6	5

RBI	20	18

Stolen Bases	0	2

Caught Stealing	0	1

Walks	15	21

Strikeouts	43	34

Batting Average	.239	.246

On Base Pct	.322	.346

Slugging Pct	.443	.407

On-base Plus Slugging	.766	.754

Who Should I Trade? Player Notes
	Esmerlyn Valdez 1B,LF,RF - PIT	Lars Nootbaar LF,CF,RF - STL
News
	Esmerlyn Valdez is expected to be in the lineup in Tuesday's game against the Diamondbacks. Ari Koslow Tue, Jul 28th	Lars Nootbaar is not in the Cardinals lineup on Sunday against the Reds. Ari Koslow Sun, Jul 26th
	The Pirates didn’t provide an update on Esmerlyn Valdez following Monday’s game against the Diamondbacks. Ari Koslow Tue, Jul 28th	Lars Nootbaar went 2-for-5 in a loss to the Diamondbacks with three RBI. Chase Davis Fri, Jul 24th
	Esmerlyn Valdez was removed from Monday’s game against the Diamondbacks after being hit by a pitch on the left hand. Ari Koslow Mon, Jul 27th	Lars Nootbaar went 1-for-2 in a win over the Braves with a home run, a walk, two runs scored, three RBI, and one stolen base. Chase Davis Sun, Jul 12th
	Esmerlyn Valdez went 2-for-3 with a home run in the Pirates 8-7 win over the Cubs on Sunday. Ari Koslow Mon, Jul 27th	Lars Nootbaar went 2-for-4 with a home run, a double, one run scored and one RBI. Chase Davis Fri, Jun 12th
	Esmerlyn Valdez went 1-for-3 with a home run in the Pirates 8-5 loss against the Yankees on Monday. Ari Koslow Tue, Jul 21st	Lars Nootbaar went 1-for-1 in a 6-5 win over the Reds with a home run, one run scored and two RBI. Chase Davis Sun, Jun 7th
Notes
There are no recent notes for these players

Who Should I Trade? Player Schedules
Date	Opp	Opp Pitcher	VBR	Opp	Opp Pitcher	VBR
	Esmerlyn Valdez 1B,LF,RF - PIT			Lars Nootbaar LF,CF,RF - STL
Thu, Mar 26th	@ NYM	Freddy Peralta (5-9)	#38	vs TB	Drew Rasmussen (9-5)	#20
Sat, Mar 28th	@ NYM	David Peterson (6-7)	#67	vs TB	Joe Boyle (0-1)	#191
Sun, Mar 29th	@ NYM	Nolan McLean (7-7)	#28	vs TB	Steven Matz (4-4)	#196
Mon, Mar 30th	@ CIN	Chase Burns (12-1)	#27	vs NYM	Clay Holmes (4-4)	#116
Tue, Mar 31st	@ CIN	Brandon Williamson (2-3)	#330	vs NYM	Kodai Senga (0-7)	#187
Wed, Apr 1st	@ CIN	Andrew Abbott (5-6)	#108	vs NYM	Freddy Peralta (5-9)	#38
Fri, Apr 3rd	vs BAL	Kyle Bradish (7-9)	#49	@ DET	Framber Valdez (5-7)	#34
Sat, Apr 4th	vs BAL	Shane Baz (4-9)	#73	@ DET	Jack Flaherty (3-8)	#99
Sun, Apr 5th	vs BAL	Chris Bassitt (4-4)	#261	@ DET	Keider Montero (7-6)	#144
Mon, Apr 6th	vs SD	German Marquez (4-2)	#357	@ WSH	Zack Littell (7-8)	#201
Tue, Apr 7th	vs SD	Nick Pivetta (1-2)	#107	@ WSH	Cade Cavalli (8-4)	#52
Wed, Apr 8th	vs SD	Michael King (6-7)	#58	@ WSH	Miles Mikolas (3-7)	#304
Fri, Apr 10th	@ CHC	Shota Imanaga (7-8)	#25	vs BOS	Connelly Early (7-5)	#167
Sat, Apr 11th	@ CHC	Edward Cabrera (5-4)	#79	vs BOS	Ranger Suarez (4-3)	#23
Sun, Apr 12th	@ CHC	Jameson Taillon (2-6)	#171	vs BOS	Brayan Bello (2-6)	#124
Mon, Apr 13th	vs WSH	Cade Cavalli (8-4)	#52	vs CLE	Gavin Williams (10-6)	#21
Tue, Apr 14th	vs WSH	PJ Poulin (3-0)	#280	vs CLE	Joey Cantillo (8-6)	#76
Wed, Apr 15th	vs WSH	Jake Irvin (2-4)	#166	vs CLE	Slade Cecconi (4-7)	#132
Thu, Apr 16th	vs WSH	Foster Griffin (12-2)	#51
Fri, Apr 17th	vs TB	Nick Martinez (10-2)	#95	@ HOU	Peter Lambert (8-5)	#148
Sat, Apr 18th	vs TB	Drew Rasmussen (9-5)	#20	@ HOU	Lance McCullers Jr. (2-3)	#290
Sun, Apr 19th	vs TB	Shane McClanahan (9-6)	#35	@ HOU	Mike Burrows (4-9)	#227
Tue, Apr 21st	@ TEX	Kumar Rocker (4-8)	#88	@ MIA	Chris Paddack (0-7)
Wed, Apr 22nd	@ TEX	Jack Leiter (3-7)	#123	@ MIA	Janson Junk (4-6)	#120
Thu, Apr 23rd	@ TEX	Jacob deGrom (7-6)	#7
Fri, Apr 24th	@ MIL	Brandon Woodruff (2-2)		vs SEA	George Kirby (8-9)	#22
Sat, Apr 25th	@ MIL	Jacob Misiorowski (11-4)	#6	vs SEA	Bryan Woo (7-7)	#13
Sun, Apr 26th	@ MIL	Kyle Harrison (8-2)	#47	vs SEA	Emerson Hancock (6-5)	#85
Mon, Apr 27th	vs STL	Dustin May (5-7)	#55	@ PIT	Mason Montgomery (4-3)	#113
Tue, Apr 28th	vs STL	Kyle Leahy (7-4)	#103	@ PIT	Braxton Ashcraft (10-4)	#33
Wed, Apr 29th	vs STL	Andre Pallante (11-6)	#115	@ PIT	Bubba Chandler (3-8)	#106
Thu, Apr 30th	vs STL	Hunter Dobbins (2-1)	#170	@ PIT	Paul Skenes (9-9)	#3
Fri, May 1st	vs CIN	Brady Singer (5-10)	#142	vs LAD	Emmet Sheehan (4-7)	#48
Sat, May 2nd	vs CIN	Rhett Lowder (3-7)	#287	vs LAD	Roki Sasaki (4-5)	#100
Sun, May 3rd	vs CIN	Chase Burns (12-1)	#27	vs LAD	Justin Wrobleski (11-2)	#90
Tue, May 5th	@ ARI	Eduardo Rodriguez (10-3)	#127
Wed, May 6th	@ ARI	Michael Soroka (8-3)	#63	vs MIL	Brandon Sproat (3-6)	#141
Thu, May 7th	@ ARI	Zac Gallen (3-9)	#177	@ SD	Michael King (6-7)	#58
Fri, May 8th	@ SF	Robbie Ray (9-6)	#102	@ SD	Griffin Canning (2-9)	#172
Sat, May 9th	@ SF	Landen Roupp (7-9)	#61	@ SD	Randy Vasquez (6-6)	#257
Sun, May 10th	@ SF	Tyler Mahle (3-9)	#74	@ SD	Walker Buehler (6-5)	#217
Tue, May 12th	vs COL	Michael Lorenzen (3-9)	#433	@ ATH	Jeffrey Springs (3-10)	#219
Wed, May 13th	vs COL	Jose Quintana (2-3)	#430	@ ATH	J.T. Ginn (8-6)	#165
Thu, May 14th	vs COL	Chase Dollander (3-3)		@ ATH	Jacob Lopez (5-4)	#203
Fri, May 15th	vs PHI	Aaron Nola (3-9)	#59	vs KC	Michael Wacha (5-7)	#78
Sat, May 16th	vs PHI	Cristopher Sanchez (13-4)	#4	vs KC	Noah Cameron (5-8)	#94
Sun, May 17th	vs PHI	Zack Wheeler (10-2)	#8	vs KC	Stephen Kolek (4-3)	#356
Tue, May 19th	@ STL	Matthew Liberatore (5-8)	#125	vs PIT	Mitch Keller (6-7)	#121
Wed, May 20th	@ STL	Michael McGreevy (4-9)	#87	vs PIT	Carmen Mlodzinski (6-3)	#119
Thu, May 21st	@ STL	Dustin May (5-7)	#55	vs PIT	Braxton Ashcraft (10-4)	#33
Fri, May 22nd	@ TOR	Kevin Gausman (4-10)	#30
Sat, May 23rd	@ TOR	Patrick Corbin (3-4)	#313	@ CIN	Chase Petty (1-2)	#411
Sun, May 24th	@ TOR	Dylan Cease (7-5)	#9
Mon, May 25th	vs CHC	Ben Brown (4-2)	#97	@ MIL	Jacob Misiorowski (11-4)	#6
Tue, May 26th	vs CHC	Jordan Wicks (0-2)	#222	@ MIL	Kyle Harrison (8-2)	#47
Wed, May 27th	vs CHC	Jameson Taillon (2-6)	#171	@ MIL	Chad Patrick (5-4)	#117
Thu, May 28th	vs CHC	Colin Rea (8-7)	#176
Fri, May 29th	vs MIN	Taj Bradley (9-4)	#50	vs CHC	Shota Imanaga (7-8)	#25
Sat, May 30th	vs MIN	Bailey Ober (7-3)	#83	vs CHC	Ben Brown (4-2)	#97
Sun, May 31st	vs MIN	Zebby Matthews (4-8)	#104	vs CHC	Jordan Wicks (0-2)	#222
Tue, Jun 2nd	@ HOU	Mike Burrows (4-9)	#227	vs TEX	Nathan Eovaldi (10-8)	#17
Wed, Jun 3rd	@ HOU	Spencer Arrighetti (7-5)	#279	vs TEX	MacKenzie Gore (6-9)	#37
Thu, Jun 4th	@ HOU	Kai-Wei Teng (5-6)	#262
Fri, Jun 5th	@ ATL	Martin Perez (6-6)	#224	vs CIN	Brady Singer (5-10)	#142
Sat, Jun 6th	@ ATL	Spencer Strider (4-2)	#303	vs CIN	Nick Lodolo (3-2)	#118
Sun, Jun 7th	@ ATL	Bryce Elder (6-6)	#133	vs CIN	Rhett Lowder (3-7)	#287
Tue, Jun 9th	vs LAD	Eric Lauer (6-5)	#370	@ NYM	Freddy Peralta (5-9)	#38
Wed, Jun 10th	vs LAD	Shohei Ohtani (8-2)	#1	@ NYM	Austin Warren
Thu, Jun 11th	vs LAD	Justin Wrobleski (11-2)	#90	@ NYM	Christian Scott (3-3)	#54
Fri, Jun 12th	vs MIA	Sandy Alcantara (11-6)	#65	@ MIN	Joe Ryan (6-7)	#19
Sat, Jun 13th	vs MIA	Lake Bachar (1-2)	#193	@ MIN	Connor Prielipp (3-5)	#98
Sun, Jun 14th	vs MIA	Max Meyer (9-1)	#77	@ MIN	Taj Bradley (9-4)	#50
Mon, Jun 15th	@ ATH	J.T. Ginn (8-6)	#165	vs SD	Wandy Peralta (2-2)	#230
Tue, Jun 16th	@ ATH	Jack Perkins (2-6)	#101	vs SD	Michael King (6-7)	#58
Wed, Jun 17th	@ ATH	Aaron Civale (5-7)	#190	vs SD	Bradgley Rodriguez (2-2)	#159
Fri, Jun 19th	@ COL	Kyle Freeland (2-10)	#375	@ KC	Seth Lugo (4-6)	#131
Sat, Jun 20th	@ COL	Tomoyuki Sugano (10-4)	#434
Sun, Jun 21st	@ COL	Michael Lorenzen (3-9)	#433	@ KC	Stephen Kolek (4-3)	#356
Tue, Jun 23rd	vs SEA	George Kirby (8-9)	#22	vs ARI	Eduardo Rodriguez (10-3)	#127
Wed, Jun 24th	vs SEA	Bryan Woo (7-7)	#13	vs ARI	Mitch Bratt (0-1)	#195
Thu, Jun 25th	vs SEA	Bryce Miller (4-5)	#39
Fri, Jun 26th	vs CIN	Andrew Abbott (5-6)	#108	vs MIA	Max Meyer (9-1)	#77
Sat, Jun 27th	vs CIN	Chase Burns (12-1)	#27	vs MIA	Ryan Gusto (0-2)	#198
Sun, Jun 28th	vs CIN	Brady Singer (5-10)	#142	vs MIA	Tyler Phillips (2-5)	#285
Mon, Jun 29th	@ PHI	Aaron Nola (3-9)	#59
Tue, Jun 30th	@ PHI	Cristopher Sanchez (13-4)	#4	@ ATL	Martin Perez (6-6)	#224
Wed, Jul 1st	@ PHI	Zack Wheeler (10-2)	#8	@ ATL	Reynaldo Lopez (4-3)	#84
Thu, Jul 2nd	@ PHI	Alan Rangel (0-3)	#301	@ ATL	Hurston Waldrep (0-1)	#306
Fri, Jul 3rd	@ WSH	Foster Griffin (12-2)	#51	@ CHC	David Peterson (6-7)	#67
Sat, Jul 4th	@ WSH	Carson Palmquist (0-1)	#323	@ CHC	Shota Imanaga (7-8)	#25
Sun, Jul 5th	@ WSH	Cade Cavalli (8-4)	#52	@ CHC	Javier Assad (6-1)	#174
Tue, Jul 7th	vs ATL	Hurston Waldrep (0-1)	#306	vs MIL	Robert Gasser (3-4)	#112
Wed, Jul 8th	vs ATL	Grant Holmes (6-4)	#137	vs MIL	Kyle Harrison (8-2)	#47
Thu, Jul 9th	vs ATL	Bryce Elder (6-6)	#133	vs MIL	Logan Henderson (5-1)	#41
Sat, Jul 11th	vs MIL	Shane Drohan (5-4)	#75	vs ATL	Reynaldo Lopez (4-3)	#84
Sun, Jul 12th	vs MIL	Robert Gasser (3-4)	#112	vs ATL	Danny Young
Sat, Jul 18th	@ CLE	Logan Allen (0-0)	#155	@ ARI	Brandon Pfaadt (5-1)	#70
Sun, Jul 19th	@ CLE	Joey Cantillo (8-6)	#76	@ ARI	Eduardo Rodriguez (10-3)	#127
Mon, Jul 20th	@ NYY	Ryan Weathers (4-7)	#57	@ LAA	Jose Soriano (9-6)	#53
Wed, Jul 22nd	@ NYY	Max Fried (4-3)	#15	@ LAA	Reid Detmers (3-7)	#36
Fri, Jul 24th	vs CHC	Matthew Boyd (6-1)	#32	vs CIN	Rhett Lowder (3-7)	#287
Sat, Jul 25th	vs CHC	Shota Imanaga (7-8)	#25	vs CIN	Hunter Greene (2-2)	#26
Sun, Jul 26th	vs CHC	Jameson Taillon (2-6)	#171	vs CIN	Andrew Abbott (5-6)	#108
Mon, Jul 27th	vs ARI	Merrill Kelly (8-8)	#126	vs CHC	David Peterson (6-7)	#67
Tue, Jul 28th	vs ARI	Brandon Pfaadt (5-1)	#70	vs CHC	Colin Rea (8-7)	#176
Wed, Jul 29th	vs ARI	Eduardo Rodriguez (10-3)	#127	vs CHC	Matthew Boyd (6-1)	#32
Thu, Jul 30th	@ CIN	Rhett Lowder (3-7)	#287	vs CHC	Javier Assad (6-1)	#174
Fri, Jul 31st	@ CIN	Hunter Greene (2-2)	#26	@ TOR	Dylan Cease (7-5)	#9
Sat, Aug 1st	@ CIN	Andrew Abbott (5-6)	#108	@ TOR	Kevin Gausman (4-10)	#30
Sun, Aug 2nd	@ CIN	Chase Burns (12-1)	#27	@ TOR	Max Scherzer (1-4)	#150
Mon, Aug 3rd	@ MIL	Brandon Sproat (3-6)	#141	@ NYY	Cam Schlittler (10-6)	#14
Tue, Aug 4th	@ MIL	Logan Henderson (5-1)	#41	@ NYY	Ryan Weathers (4-7)	#57
Wed, Aug 5th	@ MIL	Shane Drohan (5-4)	#75	@ NYY	Will Warren (7-5)	#68
Thu, Aug 6th	@ MIL
Fri, Aug 7th	vs NYM	Freddy Peralta (5-9)	#38	vs COL	Ryan Feltner (3-5)	#432
Sat, Aug 8th	vs NYM			vs COL
Sun, Aug 9th	vs NYM			vs COL
Tue, Aug 11th	@ MIA			vs PHI
Wed, Aug 12th	@ MIA			vs PHI
Thu, Aug 13th	@ MIA
Fri, Aug 14th	vs BOS			@ CHC
Sat, Aug 15th	vs BOS			@ CHC
Sun, Aug 16th	vs BOS			@ CHC
Mon, Aug 17th	vs DET			@ CIN
Tue, Aug 18th	vs DET			@ CIN
Wed, Aug 19th	vs DET			@ CIN
Fri, Aug 21st	@ LAD			@ PHI
Sat, Aug 22nd	@ LAD			@ PHI
Sun, Aug 23rd	@ LAD			@ PHI
Mon, Aug 24th	@ SD
Tue, Aug 25th	@ SD			vs BAL
Wed, Aug 26th	@ SD			vs BAL
Fri, Aug 28th	@ STL			vs PIT
Sat, Aug 29th	@ STL			vs PIT
Sun, Aug 30th	@ STL			vs PIT
Tue, Sep 1st	vs SF			@ LAD
Wed, Sep 2nd	vs SF			@ LAD
Thu, Sep 3rd	vs SF			@ LAD
Fri, Sep 4th	vs LAA			@ COL
Sat, Sep 5th	vs LAA			@ COL
Sun, Sep 6th	vs LAA			@ COL
Tue, Sep 8th	@ CWS			@ SF
Wed, Sep 9th	@ CWS			@ SF
Thu, Sep 10th	@ CWS
Fri, Sep 11th	@ CHC			vs CWS
Sat, Sep 12th	@ CHC			vs CWS
Sun, Sep 13th	@ CHC			vs CWS
Tue, Sep 15th	vs MIL			vs SF
Wed, Sep 16th	vs MIL			vs SF
Thu, Sep 17th	vs MIL
Fri, Sep 18th	vs KC			vs WSH
Sat, Sep 19th	vs KC			vs WSH
Sun, Sep 20th	vs KC			vs WSH
Tue, Sep 22nd	vs STL			@ PIT
Wed, Sep 23rd	vs STL			@ PIT
Thu, Sep 24th	vs STL			@ PIT
Fri, Sep 25th	@ DET			@ MIL
Sat, Sep 26th	@ DET			@ MIL
Sun, Sep 27th	@ DET			@ MIL
Mon, Apr 20th				@ MIA	Max Meyer (9-1)	#77
Mon, May 4th				vs MIL	Chad Patrick (5-4)	#117
Mon, Jun 1st				vs TEX	Jacob deGrom (7-6)	#7
Thu, Jun 18th				@ KC	Noah Cameron (5-8)	#94
Mon, Jun 22nd				vs ARI	Merrill Kelly (8-8)	#126
Mon, Jul 6th				vs MIL	Shane Drohan (5-4)	#75
Fri, Jul 10th				vs ATL	Chris Sale (12-6)	#5
Fri, Jul 17th				@ ARI	Merrill Kelly (8-8)	#126
Tue, Jul 21st				@ LAA	Walbert Urena (6-7)	#318
Thu, Jul 23rd				vs ARI	Brandon Pfaadt (5-1)	#70
Mon, Aug 10th				vs PHI
Thu, Aug 20th				@ CIN
Thu, Aug 27th				vs BAL
Mon, Sep 7th				@ SF
Mon, Sep 14th				vs SF

Who Should I Trade?

Esmerlyn Valdez for Lars Nootbaar (2026)

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