Nolan has shot at career year
During almost every series, Rockies manager Bud Black is asked about the greatness of his third baseman, Nolan Arenado.
Black graciously obliges with thoughtful quotes, but recently delivered one of his better ones.
“What makes Nolan the great player that he is, is the consistent push, the consistent drive to excel,” Black said. “He’s continued to push and is showing the pride and professionalism of his job.”
Arenado is producing big even while the Rockies suffer through a horrendous season. Entering Friday night’s game at San Diego, the Rockies (58-81) are drowning in a ninegame losing streak and have lost 14 of their past 15 games. But Arenado just had one of the best months of his career. He hit .337, drove in 23 runs and slugged 12 home runs in August, tied with Dante Bichette in 1995 and Andres Galarraga in 1996 for the club record for the month.
If Arenado stays hot, he’ll finish with one of his finest seasons.
He’s hitting .312, which tops his .309 average in 2017. He’s hit 37 home runs and is on pace to surpass his career-high of 42 set in 2015. Arenado’s .953 OPS rivals his careerbest .959 set in 2017. He’s put up those numbers despite a sub-par July when he hit .247 with only five extra-base hits. His slump coincided with the Rockies’ 6-19 record, the worst calendar month in franchise history.
“I’ve gotta look at myself in the mirror. I can’t point fingers at anybody,” he said at the time. “Everyone goes through slumps and goes through struggles, and I’ve gone through one at the wrong time; when the team probably needed me most.”
Both Arenado and Black have acknowledged that Category Average HRs RBIs OPS WAR Stat .312 37 108 .953 4.7 Rank 7th 6th 5th 7th 9th Arenado was carrying the weight of his team’s failures on his shoulders and some of his joy for the game was missing. But he worked his way back.
And, he remains open to experimenting to make himself a better player.
This summer, first-year hitting coach Dave Magadan suggested that Arenado practice hitting against a pitching machine on occasion. It’s seemingly helped as Arenado put up an .881 OPS on the road that ranks 20th in the National League. Of his 37 home runs, 19 have come on the road. For a player that plays half of his games at Coors Field, that’s eye-opening.
“I’ve never been a big machine guy, but ‘Mags’ kept pushing me to do it,” Arenado said. “He told me a lot of good players he’s been around have done it, and he got me to buy into it. It’s been really helpful.”
Arenado admitted that he probably wouldn’t have been open to hitting against a machine earlier in his career.
“When you play in Denver and go on the road, the ball moves a little differently — a sharper break,” he said. “Every time I’ve gone on the road this year for a series, the first couple days I see a lot of breaking balls off the machine to get my eyes ready for the breaks. It’s changed a lot for me this year on the road. I’ve felt way better and adjusted so much quicker on the road than last year.”