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The St. Louis Cardinals have completed a trade with the Toronto Blue Jays acquiring first baseman Gino Groover and catcher Will Banfield in exchange for outfielder/first baseman Lars Nootbaar.
Groover, 25, brings a much-needed right-handed bat to the team.
In 33 games/four starts with Toronto this season, Groover has hit .323 with one home run and six RBIs.
At AAA Buffalo, he has hit .322 with nine home runs and 30 RBIs in 37 games.
Groover has played in 127 games/24 starts in the majors, during which he has hit .245 with two home runs and 20 RBIs.
Banfield brings in some veteran depth at the catcher's position.
The 27-year-old has played in 22 games/15 starts this season, during which he has hit .224 with one homer and five RBIs.
Banfield, who actually broke into the majors with the Cardinals in 2025, has 101 MLB game/87 starts under his belt.
Overall, he is a .225 hitter with 10 home runs and 34 RBIs.
It was tough for the Cardinals to give up on the 29-year-old Nootbaar, who broke into the majors in 2021 and has played at least 100 games every season since 2022.
But this season, has been a struggle as in 41 games/33 starts he has hit just .213 with one home run and seven games.
That is coming off back to back seasons where he hit 22 home runs.
In 716 MLB games/619 starts, Nootbaar is a .241 hitter with 90 home runs and 267 RBIs.