Nolan Arenado won’t be MLB’s best-kept secret much longer
Nolan Arenado is baseball’s best-kept secret. He plays on the west coast for a subpar Rockies team, which means he isn’t discussed much in the national media. However, at just 25 years of age, Arenado has become one of the best all-around players in baseball. It’s time for fantasy owners to take notice.
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When he first came to the majors, Arenado was known as a defensive wizard. He has backed up that reputation through three full seasons in the bigs, winning a Gold Glove Award in each one of them. His offensive production didn’t come until last season, though. After hitting a combined 28 home runs between 2013 and 2014, Arenado exploded for a National League-leading 42 last year. He also led the league with 130 RBI with a respectable .287 batting average.
The third baseman was thought highly of entering fantasy drafts this season with an ESPN average draft position of ninth overall. Investing a first-round selection in Arenado was risky, since he had produced at an elite level for just one season. However, through the first month of the 2016 season, he is rewarding fantasy owners. Entering play Wednesday, Arenado led all of baseball with 11 home runs, 23 runs scored, and was second with 25 RBI. He also ranked third on ESPN’s Player Rater behind Jose Altuve and Jake Arrieta.
Arenado’s continued emergence can be attributed to improved plate discipline. Despite having just one-sixth of the plate appearances he accumulated last season (113/665), Arenado is already a third of the way to his 2015 walks total (11/34). Currently, his on-base percentage sits at .381, well above his career average of .322. The improved patience at the plate is very encouraging, as it was the key factor to Bryce Harper’s 2015 breakout.
It’s important to remember that as encouraging as Arenado’s start to the season has been, it is only one month. It remains to be seen whether he can maintain this improved plate discipline for an entire season. Arenado broke out in 2015. He is young, has power, and plays half his games at Coors Field. If he takes another step this year he won’t be baseball’s best-kept secret much longer.
Brendan Tuma is a correspondent at FantasyPros. To read more from Brendan, check out his archive and follow him @toomuchtuma.
