In Friday’s 6-3 loss to the Miami Marlins, Rockies third baseman Nolan Arenado had a two-run home run in the third inning. The home run marked Arenado’s 99th and 100th RBI’s on the season.
Rockies fans and baseball fans know that Nolan Arenado had excellent seasons in 2015 and 2016 as he led the National League in home runs and RBI in each season (42 homers and 130 RBI in 2015 and 41 home runs and 133 RBI in 2016). However, since he reached the 100 RBI plateau on August 11, his RBI’s are on pace for a number higher than ever before.
In 2015, he reached the 100 RBI plateau on September 2 against the Arizona Diamondbacks in a 9-4 win after he had played in 128 games.
In 2016, he reached the plateau earlier as he got it on August 21 against the eventual World Champion Chicago Cubs in his 122nd game. You may remember the game as the Rockies won by a score of 11-4 in Coors Field. Arenado went 4-for-5 with two, three run home runs, two singles and six RBI in the game. Mind you, Arenado had notched both home runs and and all six of his RBI by the fourth inning.
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The numbers he’s on pace for
Arenado is on pace for 38 home runs, 145 RBI, 204 hits, 50 doubles, 108 runs, a .315 batting average, a .364 on-base percentage, and a .593 slugging percentage. With the exception of on-base percentage, all of these numbers are on pace to be in the top 10 in the National League.
He is also on pace for his second best defensive in his career as he has 17 Defensive Runs Saved (according to Baseball Reference). He notched 30 DRS in his rookie season of 2013. The next best season he has is last season when he had 20 DRS. This season, he is on pace 25 DRS.
Next: A recap of Friday's game vs. Miami
Final Thoughts
Arenado is on pace for his best season ever, offensively. Last season, he finished fifth in the MVP voting. He’ll definitely have some challengers (teammate Charlie Blackmon, Cody Bellinger of the Dodgers, Bryce Harper of the Nationals, and Paul Goldschmidt of the Diamondbacks) but I think that if he doesn’t win the MVP, he should be within the top three.