The St. Louis Cardinals, or at least the majority of them, are doing well right now. They have won 13 of their past 15 games. Lars Nootbaar, Masyn Winn, and Ivan Herrera have all been contributing offensively for St. Louis lately, but veteran third baseman Nolan Arenado, perhaps the team’s most well-known player, has been stuck in a terrible rut.
Despite Arenado’s explosive start to the season, everything has now collapsed. His batted-ball numbers are all close to the bottom of the barrel, as he has only slashed.204/.266/.292 with six extra-base hits over his previous 29 games. For the first time this season, the eight-time All-Star batted sixth and requested to be removed from the cleanup position for Monday’s series opening against the Detroit Tigers.
Arenado told reporters, “The guys are hitting behind me, and they should move up,” according to Katie Woo of The Athletic. “There’s really nothing more to it than that.”
Not every $275 million future Hall of Famer would acknowledge that other players are now outhitting him, much less offer to give up his position at the top of the order. For this reason, Arenado’s self-awareness and desire to prioritize the team should be appreciated. Even with all of those trade rumors, Arenado has been nothing but a pro during his time with the Cardinals, and his seasoned presence is definitely assisting St. Louis’ youthful prospects in reaching their full potential.
However, there is also a negative aspect to this tale, which Cardinals supporters were more than glad to share on social media. Although Arenado should be commended for swallowing his pride, Oli Marmol should have been the one to initiate this move in the first place.
Nolan Arenado was willing to do what Oli Marmol wouldn’t
Once more, Arenado has been a terrible hitter for a long time, dating back to the end of the last campaign. Unbeaten, Father Time seems to have arrived for him in a big way.
Having said that, why did it take the Cardinals so long to implement this move, and why did Arenado have to propose it? A close division battle isn’t exactly hurting for hot hitters right now, so insisting on placing Arenado at number four is like shooting yourself in the foot. In a perfect world, the manager would be starting his squad every day with the top nine players in the correct sequence.
Marmol chose to take a back seat and let his players handle the laborious tasks. Respecting a seasoned celebrity is one thing, but refusing to take on a challenging task is quite another, and it seems like this entire situation has swung toward the latter. Arenado was the only starter without a hit as St. Louis dominated Detroit for 11 runs in their victory on Monday night. Although he deserves praise for prioritizing his team, this doesn’t provide much hope that Marmol can handle the remainder of the season.
