Colorado Rockies: Was the “tarp catch” Nolan Arenado’s greatest play?

As we prepare to have Colorado Rockies fans vote on their favorite moment of the past decade, we wanted to take a look back at one of the plays that will be included in that vote. It could also well be the franchise’s defensive play of the  past decade.

On April 14, 2015, the Colorado Rockies were in San Francisco to take on the Giants. With no outs and runners on first and second and the Rockies holding a 3-0, eighth-inning lead, Gregor Blanco fouled off an 0-1 pitch from Colorado’s Rafael Betancourt. What happened next was a play that is still talked about to this day. Take a look…

More from Colorado Rockies News

• A Colorado Rockies Thanksgiving
• Colorado Rockies: Charlie Blackmon out for the season
• Colorado Rockies: Injuries shift look of roster ahead of Dodgers series
• Colorado Rockies: 3 things we appreciated from Tuesday in San Francisco
• What Bill Schmidt’s comments mean for the Colorado Rockies in 2023

It isn’t just the fact that Arenado made the catch, but he also had the instincts to gather himself and throw back to third in an attempt to get the runner trying to advance.

Few will argue that the “tarp catch” was the best defensive play made by Arenado in the time since his 2013 debut. However, there are always debates about the defensive plays that have come after the “tarp catch” and whether any of them are better than that moment.

After all, plays like the ones below have become almost routine for the seven-time Gold Glove recipient. Rockies fans have become accustomed to seeing them regularly while other fanbases still shake their heads when a seemingly sure base hit is taken away by Colorado’s third baseman.

We have compiled a list of the 10 best defensive plays of the decade from Arenado that you can see (complete with video) by clicking here.

Starting tomorrow on our Twitter page, you can help decide if Arenado’s “tarp catch” was the best moment of the decade for the Rockies. Every vote counts and we can’t wait to see what Rockies fans choose as the best of the best from some of the moments we mentioned here.