MIAMI -- Cardinals star third baseman Nolan Arenado has won 10 consecutive Gold Gloves, six Platinum Gloves and five Silver Slugger awards. He’s also been named to seven MLB All-Star teams. So one might assume that such honors are old hat to him.

However, as Arenado pointed out recently, perspective has a way of reviving excitement.

• MLB All-Star Game presented by Mastercard: Tuesday on FOX, 7 p.m. CT

After leading Team USA to the World Baseball Classic title game, Arenado figured he would seamlessly transition into the MLB season already in midseason form. However, he struggled like never before in the season’s first month. At the end of April, the Cardinals were a disappointing 10-19, and Arenado felt personally responsible after hitting a pedestrian .239 with two home runs through his first 28 games.

Arenado takes any lack of performance personally; his teammates marvel at the white-hot intensity of his inner fire. They chuckle when he takes a bat back to the team hotel so he can watch himself take hacks in the mirror, and they also look on in amazement when he practices his batting stance on the team plane or while he’s at third base on defense. His wife Laura even scolds him from time to time when he mentally checks out of a conversation and simulates his swing in the middle of dinner.

Arenado’s obsession with being great and the high expectations he has for himself are evident every day. That never-ending dedication to his craft was part of the reason he dug himself out of his slow start this season by hitting .290 with seven home runs in May and .302 with another seven homers in June. Then he had a strong start to July, with an eye-popping 1.173 OPS through his first six games.

All of that work put Arenado in position to earn his eighth MLB All-Star Game appearance, where he will start for the fifth time in six years. This time, Arenado won the fan vote over Braves star Austin Riley. For Arenado, that’s special because of the perspective his slow start to the season lent him.

“I had a really tough first month -- one of the toughest stretches I’ve had in my career -- and to be able to come out on this end and I’m playing better, and I made the All-Star team, this [All-Star Game election] feels a little different,” Arenado admitted. “It feels like the first one I ever made, because I didn’t think I was going after the way I started. So to come back and play better, this [All-Star Game honor] means a lot to me.”

What also means a lot to Arenado is the consistent effort, intensity and production he brings to the ballpark every day. Be it April or October, his passion burns at the same temperature -- and that’s usually at blast-furnace levels. Arenado’s intensity rarely takes a day off, to the point that he sometimes wonders if caring so much and pushing so hard is detrimental to himself or annoying to his teammates. But it’s the only way he knows how to play -- certainly no one can argue with the results.

Excluding the pandemic-shortened 2020 campaign, Arenado has hit at least 30 home runs and driven in at least 100 runs in seven straight seasons. Barring an injury or the Cardinals resting him, Arenado will hit those landmarks again this season; he has 17 home runs and 58 RBIs before the break.

While Arenado often sheepishly downplays his numerous accomplishments and awards, the home run and RBI streak is something that he wears proudly. Hitting the marks the past two seasons in St. Louis showed that he was far more than just a product of Colorado’s thin air. He resented that slight during his time with the Rockies, and he’s proud that he’s been able to maintain his steady production with the Cards.

“I take a lot of pride in my consistency and I thank God I’ve been healthy, because you’ve got to be healthy to go out there and produce,” Arenado said.

A Southern California native who attended games at Dodger Stadium as a kid, Arenado had to pull out of the All-Star Game in 2022 because of back pain. There will be no repeat, Arenado stressed, even though back pain is a constant companion.

“Since the fans voted for me, I’m going and I think it’s important to go,” Arenado said. “If I didn’t get the fan vote, I would have to think about it, because my back has been hurting. I want to go, because I think it’s important."