ROCKTOBER
Colorado Rockies third baseman Nolan Arenado celebrates after his home run Sept. 30. The Rockies beat the Cubs 21 on Tuesday night and will face the Brewers on Thursday in Game 1 of their NLDS.
Andy Cross, The Denver Post »
MILWAUKEE» Nolan Arenado won’t say it, because selfpromotion is just not his thing. Friend and Rockies teammate Carlos Gonzalez, however, can’t wait for baseball lovers, coast to coast, to get a closeup look at Arenado.
The viewing begins Thursday afternoon when the Rockies play the Brewers in Game 1 of the bestoffive National League division series.
“This is a great opportunity for Nolan, and we talk about it all of the time,” Gonzalez said Wednesday afternoon from the visitors’ clubhouse at Miller Park. “Obviously, a lot of people around the league and around the baseball world get to see him play in the AllStar Game and things like that. But to be able to see him in a series, on the big stage, is a special moment for him.
“Because he’s a special talent, he’s worked really hard and he’s waited a long time to be in this moment. I’m extremely proud of him and happy that he’s getting the opportunity to show the world what kind of player he is.”
Arenado, 27, has been in the major leagues since 2013 but had to wait until last year to get into the playoffs. That experience ended with a painful oneanddone loss at Arizona in the wildcard game. Colorado’s stirring, 21, 13inning
victory over the Cubs in Tuesday night’s wildcard game landed the Rockies in their first National League Division Series since 2009, the year Arenado played for the Casper (Wyo.) Ghosts, the Rockies’ rookieleague team at the time.
While Arenado is thrilled to be in his first postseason series, he shuns the idea that it’s any sort of personal showcase.
“This is a great opportunity for the team, but I won’t add that pressure on me,” Arenado said. “Obviously I’m excited for my first series, but this is an opportunity for the whole team. We still have a chance to win a World Series and it all starts tomorrow. I’m happy to be in this position, as we all are, but we want more.”
It’s not as if Arenado is an unknown. The third baseman is the first infielder in bigleague history to begin his career with five consecutive Gold Gloves, with number six likely in the offing this offseason. He finished fourth in the NL MVP voting last season, though many of his teammates considered him the best allaround player in the league a year ago.
What’s more, Arenado is a fourtime allstar who hit 38 home runs this season to win the National League home run crown. Despite a September slump, he hit .297, drove in 110 runs, posted a .935 OPS and had a careerhigh .374 onbase percentage.
Manager Bud Black wants all of his players to shine in the spotlight, so he’s thankful the Rockies could have a significant run in October.
“Not only Nolan, but everybody, our entire team, is on this stage, and hopefully it gets bigger as we go,” Black said. “But I know this means a lot to Nolan. I know that he has said that, obviously, about where he’s hoping that this club gets to, and now we’re here, hopefully to keep going, and play in these types of games.”
Arenado, who’s scheduled to become a free agent after the 2019 season, has repeatedly said this season has not been his best. A fourweek stretch from Aug. 27 to Sept. 23 was rough. In that stretch he hit .202, with a .267 onbase percentage, a .650 OPS and three home runs in 94 atbats.
But he shifted to a higher gear when it mattered the most down the stretch. In the final eight games of the regular season, including Game 163 on Monday in Los Angeles, he hit .364 (12for34) with four home runs and a 1.201 OPS.
“I feel good right now,” Arenado said. “I’m having good atbats and I feel like I’m seeing the ball pretty well. I like where I’m at.”
In the Rockies’ victory over the Cubs Tuesday night, Arenado drove in Colorado’s first run with a sacrifice fly. He also shined at third base. Gonzalez figures that’s just a preview of what’s to come.
“Yesterday was a great example of what Nolan can do,” Gonzalez said. “He made diving plays at third, barehanded that one grounder. And those of us around him know he’s even better than what he showed last night.”