HR robbery won't dampen Nolan's torrid month

DENVER -- Third baseman Nolan Arenado is too busy achieving goals and grasping for more to let the Rockies’ awful fortunes stop him.

“I’ve fallen in that trap, and it’s not a good trap,” Arenado said.

The Rockies sank deeper into the quicksand with Thursday night’s 11-8 loss to the Pirates, who got two home runs and 11 total bases from Kevin Newman and scored seven runs in two-thirds of an inning against Colorado starter Chi Chi Gonzalez. A season in which the Rockies expected to contend sees them at 17 games below .500 with 42 losses in their last 61 games.

• Box score

Even with the loss, which the Rockies made interesting with five two-out runs in the eighth inning, Arenado is at the tail end of his best month. Thursday’s 1-for-3 output, before he was removed early with the score lopsided, put his August batting average at .330 (31 for 94). His 12 home runs are tied with Dante Bichette in 1995 and Andres Galarraga in 1996 for the club record for August, and he may have surpassed both had Pirates center fielder Starling Marte not reached above the wall for a leaping catch in the fifth inning.

After making, depending on the eye of the gawker, five or six outstanding defensive plays in Wednesday’s 7-4 loss to the Red Sox, Arenado added a diving grab of Colin Moran’s line drive in the fourth inning. Of course, the way things are going for the Rockies, the next hitter, Jose Osuna, homered off Jesus Tinoco.

“When you’re losing like this, without sounding bad, I don’t buy into what’s going on here in a way,” Arenado said. “I just go out there and compete the best I can. I don’t care if we’re losing or winning, I’m here to do a job and do the best I can.”

Inside the numbers is an internal battle.

Arenado wanted to reduce strikeouts, and results bear it out. He has just 75 with a little over a month left in the regular season. It could be the first time in his career he has fewer than 100, even though he already is the first third baseman in Major League history with five straight seasons with at least 30 home runs (34) and 100 RBIs (103).

But could avoiding strikeouts be too little of a bad thing?

In protecting against strikeouts, Arenado is using his ability to reach balls out of the strike zone. According to Statcast, he has 46 hits out of the zone, which are fourth most in the Majors, and his .275 batting average on plate appearances that finish on pitches out of the zone ranks fourth.

But reaching for a pitch that may not be a strike could be passing up a chance for either a walk, or a better count in which to swing to do even more damage. Arenado already has a career-high 76 walks, but could laying off some balls force pitchers to attack the plate and risk his best cuts?

“I thought me cutting down my strikeouts would help me,” Arenado said. “It has. But at the same time, there’s a certain way to do it. I feel I should be walking a little bit more, have a little bit better quality at-bats. But it’s a mixture of both. It’s trying to get better. Controlling the strike zone is something I really need to work on.

“It’s a fine line. I don’t want to take away my aggressiveness. I don’t want to go up to the plate passive, ever. But at the same time, there’s a different level. I can get better.”

Before his standout August, Arenado endured batting averages of .265 in June, when he was banged up because of foul balls off his foot and pitches hitting his arm and hand, and .247 in July.

“It is what makes Nolan the great player that he is -- the consistent push, the consistent drive to excel,” Rockies manager Bud Black said. “With what we’ve seen this month, and hopefully it continues into September, it’s going to be another monster season for Nolan. It’s more of a sounding endorsement to who he is as a player. He’s continued to push and is showing the pride and professionalism of his profession, his job.”

The Rockies are spending the final two months testing young position players. Yonathan Daza tripled in the eighth inning to open the rally, and Sam Hilliard knocked his second two-run homer in as many Major League games. Colorado is trying to survive while the entire Opening Day starting rotation is on the injured list and the team’s starting-pitching ERA is 5.89.

And they have an example in Arenado, who also seeks improvement despite being one of the game’s greatest players.

“I don’t want them to see me as a guy that just sits there and does the same thing,” Arenado said. “I want them to see me as a guy who’s trying to get better. ‘He’s still doing a good job.’ I need to start doing some more stuff.

“That’s the message I want to send. If it gets to them, it’ll be great. If not, that’s OK. Everyone needs to be themselves. Nobody can be me, and I can’t be them. But if they add something to their game like I would like to add, it’ll help us be better.”