Colorado Rockies: One way Nolan Arenado plans to improve in 2018

As amazing as Nolan Arenado might be on the diamond, the Colorado Rockies All-Star third baseman is always looking for ways to improve. On Saturday morning at Coors Field, Arenado revealed a surprising way he is looking to make himself better in time for the 2018 season.

“There’s always something,” Arenado told a group of reporters, including Rox Pile, when asked if there was something he was focused on improving before next season. “It doesn’t even necessarily have to be baseball-wise. It could be away from the field.“As weird as this sounds, I would like to try to get to bed earlier before games. That’s something I’m trying to take pride in this next year. I find myself staying up a little later. Like, my mind racing and thinking about the game and then I find myself going to bed at 2 or 3. Little things like that, I feel like they can make an impact in the game.”

More from Rox Pile

• A Colorado Rockies Thanksgiving
• Colorado Rockies: What if Todd Helton had played football instead?
• Colorado Rockies: Charlie Blackmon out for the season
• Colorado Rockies: Injuries shift look of roster ahead of Dodgers series
• Colorado Rockies: Has Sean Bouchard earned a second look in 2023?

It’s nice to know that there is something about Arenado that many of us in the stands and the press box that say, “Hey, that sounds like me.” We all could use a little more rest, right? It’s also a reminder of just how passionate Arenado is about the game that he plays and exactly how good he wants to be at it, every day.

Even as a rookie, Arenado and then-Rockies manager Walt Weiss talked about how he never liked to take a day off. That continues to this day, with Arenado often having an offensive explosion the next day after getting a day off, such as he did in a three-homer game against the New York Mets last season. He’s itching to get back on the field and opposing pitchers usually pay the price for that.

Pushing yourself during the season and playing at the level that Arenado does can certainly have an effect on even the star athlete’s body. Arenado added on Saturday that he’s looking for other ways to take care of himself more this season, including more rest off the diamond and even an increased number of massages.

Next: 18 Rockies things we are looking forward to in 2018

Arenado turns 27 on April 16 and is in the middle of the prime years of his career. Finding ways to make himself even better, after five Gold Gloves and three Silver Sluggers, should be a scary thought for the rest of the National League.