Subscribe
Follow Us
For the first time since 2020, Nolan Arenado isn't headed to the MLB All-Star Game, but the St. Louis Cardinals third baseman views the upcoming break as a turning point in his season — and a chance to shake any injury concerns.
Through 83 games played, Arenado is hitting a respectable .270, but with only a .701 OPS and 99 OPS+ — not panic-inducing by any stretch, but certainly not befitting a guy making $35 million with eight All-Star nods to his name.
Arenado has shown some signs of improvement, however, hitting .359 over his past 10 games, putting him in position for a second-half surge.
“My goal is to get to the All-Star break, God willing, healthy and feeling a tide turning,” Arenado told the St. Louis Post-Dispatch. “That’s my own goal. I care about winning, helping this team win, and end this first half the right way. And, hopefully, just having that tide turning regardless of hits and results. I want to perform. I want to drive in runs. That’s never going to change. But my goal is to get to the break with hopefully feeling like I’m going somewhere.”
Arenado's a veteran, so he knows what that feeling is like. And as a player in his 30s, he also knows what it feels like to play through nagging injuries.
“You still want to have your timing down and recognize pitches,” he added. “Early on, I felt fine. I just wasn’t producing. As the season goes on, you deal with things — back, left forearm, and elbow — and now, for the most part, I’m not feeling as much pain. I would consider that contributing to feeling better at the plate, for sure. Even on defense, too. It’s everything. Feeling better everywhere.”
In terms of results, Arenado outlined two key indicators.
“The feeling for me is walking and not popping up all the damn time like I’ve done this whole year, basically,” Arenado said. “Being able to get jammed and still hit a line drive instead of a popup to second base, that’s a sign that I’m getting on plane the right way.”
So far this season, Arenado is walking in 6.5% of his at bats, which is his lowest rate since 2015. His pop-ups have also increased, with an infield fly ball rate of 16.8%, according to FanGraphs, matching a career high. All the while, his hard hit percentage is at an all-time low (23.4%).
Nolan Arenado knows no wants to hear injury excuses
Perhaps more than athletes in any other sport, baseball players are expected to deal with injuries. With 162 games crammed into a six-month schedule, “playing through it' is a skill in itself. Nolan Arenado knows that. He also knows the Cardinals (and Colorado Rockies, if you want to get technical) owe him $74 million over the next three years.
Neither the front office nor the fans want to hear excuses for poor performance.
“We all have excuses, but nobody really cares to hear them,” Arenado said. “This isn’t the first time I’ve played through something. Your whole career you deal with things. I think, at the end of the day, you realize your opponent doesn’t care, so you have to go out there and give everything you do have.”
For the most part, Arenado has stayed on the field, playing in 83 of the Cardinals' 89 games this season. He missed three games in late June with a forearm injury after a hit by pitch, but is hitting .319 since his return.
He's played in at least 140 games in every full season since 2015.
