Colorado Rockies: is Nolan Arenado already the greatest Rockie ever?

• Picture the scene: A beautiful Father’s Day in 2017. The Colorado Rockies hold a small lead in the National League West race. For the day, the purple pin stripes are temporarily replaced by some baby blue. The Giants had just come back to take a small 5-3 lead late in the game. Fortunately for us, it was the Rockies this time who had the legend. His name was Nolan Arenado.

Arenado found an inside fastball and punished it for a home run down the left field side. It was a walk off 3 run homer that gave the Rockies a 7-5 historic-level win. It was a historic home run that capped off an incredible game in which Nolan hit for the cycle and even made an elite play at third base.  Arenado was the hero, in a game very similar to one we saw from Carlos Gonzalez back in 2010. Seven years later, Arenado once again captures the hearts of millions of fans the only way he knows how:

Pure excitement. Joy. Hope that the Rockies can make the playoffs for the first time since 2009. Arenado is one of the best ball players to put on a Rockies uniform at the age of only 26 years old. It would be a valid argument to say Nolan is on pace to be the best Blake Street Bomber in history. However, could we say he has already hit that pinnacle?

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Obviously, the undisputed greatest Rockie of all time is Todd Helton.

We need to compare these two if we want to really give Arenado his case. And from a defensive standpoint, Arenado is far and wide already better. He has been awarded 4 gold glove awards, one for every year of his career. Todd Helton? He only had three. That does not sound too different, until you realize Helton has 13 more years on Nolan as of right now.

Perhaps this argument would be a lot move reliable if we looked a year down the road. That is because Nolan has a real chance right now to be the National League MVP this season. Todd Helton was an elite player, but he never won the award. The only Rockie to ever receive the honor was Larry Walker in 1997. Arenado has a perfect opportunity to set himself far and wide above everyone else that has played for the Rockies.

Nolan Arenado is certainly on pace to be the greatest of all time. Sure. That doesn’t make him already better than some Rockies legends right now.

To that, I would simply say for now. Let’s look at just a couple things Arenado could accomplish by the end of this season:

He could be the leader and best player of a playoff team. The Rockies have only made the playoffs 3 times in their history. Being the best player on an elite team sure can’t hurt husband reputation.

He can officially go 5 for 5 on gold glove awards in his career, as well as win yet another silver slugger award.

And maybe, just maybe, he could lead the Rockies to their first ever World Series championship. It’s not likely, but it’s certainly possible if they can get hot. Would there be any argument against Arenado if he did that?