Mark Knudson’s Three Strikes Blog: Strike Two:
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The one Rockie who can make Nolan Arenado better
STRIKE TWO: It’s been a pretty nice run for Nolan Arenado. He’s coming off his fourth straight All-Star season in 2018, when he won his sixth consecutive Gold Glove and fourth straight Silver Slugger at third base. AND, a few weeks ago, he inked an eight-year, $260 million contract extension. Not too shabby.
Some of those who do “projections” about MLB say 2019 is Nolan’s year to win the National League MVP.
But for that to happen, Arenado has to get better. And for Arenado to get better, he has to play less. Fewer games, fewer at-bats. More time on the bench getting badly needed rest.
For that to become a legitimate possibility there’s one Rockie who has to prove he can not only play, but excel at the big league level.
Ryan McMahon.
McMahon had his moments a season ago – a couple of pinch hit home runs leap to mind – but what isn’t talked about very much is the work he did filling in at third base when Arenado was semi-injured and either out of the line-up or serving as the designated hitter in a couple American League ballparks. There were a few moments when McMahon actually did a pretty fair impression of the man himself.
There need to be many more of those this season.
Arenado needs more days off. He had a total of six all of last season. Getting him to agree sit on the bench for a day is like asking Donald Trump to take a day off from Twitter. Still, it HAS to happen. Nolan plays the game in such an intense fashion – going after every ball he can get his eyes on – that he expends more energy than almost anybody else on the field every night. And he IS still human.
On June 7th of last season, Arenado’s batting average peaked at .327. He was having a Triple Crown year (he would end up leading the NL in homers with 38 while driving in 110.) But sometime in early August he suffered a mysterious shoulder injury that would linger. During a three game series against Pittsburgh at Coors Field, Nolan wasn’t being Nolan. He made an uncharacteristic error on a routine play and saw his batting average fall to .304 after a 2-for-9 series at the plate.
While he was still hitting home runs, the hallmark consistency wasn’t there and he went through a prolonged slump for the first time in memory. He never really exploded out of it. He dropped below .300 on September 1st and finished the season hitting .297.
For that scenario NOT to repeat itself, McMahon has to be able to play third base at a high quality level about once every 10 days or so and give Nolan some extra days off. The good news for Rockies fans is that Arenado has historically come out with a vengeance the day following a game on the bench. His famous walk-off cycle game in 2017 being a prime example. The day night before that famous Father’s Day, Arenado got a rare night off.
McMahon has had an outstanding spring training this year, leading all of baseball in batting average most of the spring. He’s likely to earn the Opening Day start at second base. But with a limited bench again this season, McMahon and fellow rookie Garrett Hampsen are likely to share time at 2B, as well as playing multiple positions. No question Hampsen could start at second and McMahon at third on the days Nolan is left out of the line-up.
The $260-millon man won’t like it, but it’s what’s best for him and the team.
Wanna argue? Hit me up on Twitter @MarkKnudson41. Coming Friday: Should the Broncos draft “the best player available?”
