Arenado determined to 'work differently' to return to slugging ways

SAN FRANCISCO -- Given the day off after playing 152 games and grinding through various injuries, Nolan Arenado’s thoughts on Saturday centered more on the days ahead of him than the nagging ones behind him where he worked more than ever but saw his power numbers dip like never before.

Arenado, 33, is already thinking about the future because he is convinced that with an offseason of work, he can get back to the superstar production he featured over the first 10 seasons of a career that will likely end up in the Hall of Fame. His numbers declined in a dismal 2023 for the Cardinals and cratered from a power perspective in '24. His 16 homers are his fewest in 11 years, when he was a Rockies rookie.

Rather than being discouraged, Arenado’s eyes light up when he discusses the work it’s going to take for him to again be a consistent threat to pull fastballs into the left-field seats.

“I played over 150 games, I didn’t have the back issues I did last year and there’s no doubt my body can hold up,” Arenado told MLB.com prior to the Cardinals' 6-5 loss to the Giants on Saturday. “I know that I can work on my swing all I want, but for me to be where I need to be, I’m going to have to get back in the gym and work differently. Work with my training and do things that I’ve done in the past, but also add stuff that’s going to allow me to sustain feeling fresh and explosive.”

Explosiveness was an issue all season for Arenado, whose first homer didn’t come until the 14th game of the season; the second didn’t flash until the third game of May. And he’s been homerless over his last 14 games of another season that will fall short of the playoffs. Homers on May 28 in Cincinnati and May 31 in Philadelphia were his only ones in consecutive games, and they came following an off-day for the Cards and a personal day off. Not only is his .394 slugging percentage a career low, but it's 65 points off last season's, when he failed to hit 30 homers for the first time in seven full seasons.

The eight-time All-Star, whose OPS+ dipped to 101 and 19 points lower than his career average, knows he is paid to drive the ball for a Cardinals team that has slumped badly with runners in scoring position. To his credit, Arenado has been quick to accept blame for the failings of 2024 and knows the hopes for '25 rest on his revival.

“It definitely wasn’t the year I wanted, it wasn’t the year this team needed, and I take a lot of responsibility for that,” said Arenado, who was able to hit .272 with 23 doubles by being more willing to spray the ball. “I’ve tried to see the good in it, and the good is that I’ve found a way to fight every day. It’s not fun trying to fight every single day, but I’ve found a way to do some things.”

Another encouraging sign for Arenado and the Cardinals is how he returned his defense to a high level in 2024. Arenado and Ichiro Suzuki are the only players in MLB history to open their careers with 10 straight Gold Glove Awards at one position, but the Cardinals' third baseman wasn’t even a finalist for the award in 2023. This season, however, Arenado is in baseball’s 94th percentile in outs above average (nine) and in the 86th percentile in fielding run value (seven), per Baseball Savant.

Said Cards pitcher Andre Pallante, who pitched five innings on Saturday: “I’ve seen Nolan take ground balls for six straight hours before. He’s going to put in the work to improve.”

Getting back the swing that allowed him to hit 34, 30 and 26 homers in his first three seasons in St. Louis could be a bit more difficult. Unlike how many of the underlying numbers remained high for similarly struggling teammate Paul Goldschmidt, Arenado saw his average bat speed (70.7 mph) plunge below league average (71.5 mph) and his fast-swing rate (75 mph or greater) fall to 12.8% -- nearly 10 percentage points below league average (22.5%).

Working, without overdoing it, will be the key, Arenado said.

“I’m getting older, and I can’t just hit all day anymore; this year I did hit a lot and that probably hurt me, but I wasn’t playing well, and it doesn’t sit well with me to sit and do less when I’m playing at a [lesser] level,” he said.

“I have a lot of work to do this offseason, and I truly believe in my heart that I can get back to slugging. That’s all I’m thinking about.”