The guy nobody expected to be here
In something we call “a good problem to have,” I have an embarrassment of options to pick for Player of the Week. That’s what happens when you sweep a series and nearly everyone who played had a good weekend. If only this will be as difficult for every player of the week going forward.
But amidst some pretty tough competition, I’m going to have to go with Nolan Arenado, the guy who nobody expected to be here a few months ago. Is that contributing to him being the player of the “week?” (Usually a week involves more than three games). Absolutely. But he also earned on his own merits. He had three good games. Only Brendan Donovan can also say that, and all he hit were singles (not a complaint!)
On Opening Day, Arenado did not start off seeming like a different player. In his first two plate appearances, he hit a soft lineout to right field and then hit a softly hit groundball that eeked its way for a single to right field. That second hit put runners on 1st and 2nd, and while a double play removed him from the basepaths, a run did score that inning. In his third AB, he made up for the lucky hit with an unlucky out: he hit a 10.7.9 mph groundball directly at Carlos Correa. And then, not needing the insurance because of Ryan Helsley’s dominance, but with me at least very much appreciating it, Arenado puts the Cardinals up by two with a solo shot in the bottom of the 8th.
In game two, Arenado drove in the only run against starting pitcher Joe Ryan with a two-out single. In his second AB, he hit it pretty hard at 94.3 mph, but it did find a glove in right field. He hit it pretty hard in his third AB as well, with a 95.4 mph line drive double off pitcher Jorge Alcala. Okay it was more like a line drive single, but still counts as a double in the record books.
In his fourth appearance of the game, Arenado walked on six pitches after falling behind 1-2. He struck out in his last plate appearance, but you can’t win them all. Unfortunately, in his one real bad plate appearance of the weekend, he struck out in a situation you can’t strike out in, with runners at 2nd and 3rd, one out. But he doubled off Bailey Ober in his 2nd attempt, hitting it 97.1 mph. He walked for the second time this weekend in his next plate appearance. He got just one more plate appearance, because the Cardinals were blowing out the Twins, grounding out.
All in all, Arenado went 5-11 with two doubles, a homer, and two walks. He pretty much provided the two main things that always worry me about Arenado, at least since last year: power and walks. We saw him with power far earlier than last year, and he usually isn’t very good about walking, and he’s notched two already.
So your player of the week is Nolan Arenado