WASHINGTON — Even before he delivered two RBIs and two more singles with a swing he can sense is coming around, Cardinals third baseman Nolan Arenado revealed as much in six words as he has with eight hits this weekend.
“It’s nice,†he began, “to play without pain.â€
Challenged in the past few weeks by several ailments, Arenado went 2 for 5 in the Cardinals’ 8-3 win Sunday, and in the span of three days in the nation’s capital he’s raised his batting average from .256 to .270. It’s been nine years since Arenado reached the All-Star break with a slugging percentage less than .500 and fewer than 17 home runs. With a week of games to go, a frustrating first half has him slugging .379 — a career-low this late in the season — and still seeking his eighth homer.
He’s spent recent weeks trying to produce any way he could while searching for the swing and health to produce the ways he’s come to expect.
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“My goal is to get to the All-Star break, God willing, healthy and feeling a tide turning,†Arenado said. “That’s my own goal. I care about winning, helping this team win, and end this first half the right way. And, hopefully, just having that tide turning regardless of hits and results. I want to perform. I want to drive in runs. That’s never going to change. But my goal is to get to the break with hopefully feeling like I’m going somewhere.â€
In Washington, there are hints that tide is rising.
Arenado had four hits, including a double he pulled to left field, in the series-opener Friday. On Saturday, he singled in his first two at-bats but got just as much lift from is next two. Arenado drilled a ball at 98 mph off his bat up the middle that became a groundout. In the sixth inning, he took a 97-mph pitch that jammed him and lined it to center at 101.7-mph off the bat.
“The feeling for me is walking and not popping up all the damn time like I’ve done this whole year, basically,†Arenado said. “Being able to get jammed and still hit a line drive instead of a popup to second base, that’s a sign that I’m getting on plane the right way.â€
Arenado has tussled with his swing throughout most of the season, fighting through some stretches in which he had a two-handed follow-through instead of his preferred one-handed flourish. His line-drive rate and groundball rate compare favorably to last season, but his flyball rate has sunk from his MVP-finalist summer of 2022 with the Cardinals.
He’s also pulling the ball less, dropping from a 50% pull rate a year ago to 44% this season. Over the past few months, injuries have interrupted with a sore back, a sore left forearm, and, most recently, an injured right elbow that kept him out of the Cardinals’ game at Rickwood Field.
Arenado received a few days off to calm that pain, but otherwise he’s sought to play through soreness. That was in part so that he didn’t disrupt his timing and have to restart what he’s been working to improve with his swing.
“You still want to have your timing down and recognize pitches,†he said. “Early on (in the season), I felt fine. I just wasn’t producing. As the season goes on, you deal with things — back, left forearm, and elbow — and now, for the most part, I’m not feeling as much pain. I would consider that contributing to feeling better at the plate, for sure. Even on defense, too. It’s everything. Feeling better everywhere.â€
That is why the break factors into his goal.
Entering the final road game Monday before the All-Star break, Arenado has three consecutive multi-hit games. He’s 8 for 13 in the series vs. Washington with three RBIs. The plan to find any way to produce what he could has blossomed into feeling better overall and feeling better at the plate, or at least feeling better about the direction he’s headed at the plate.
“We all have excuses, but nobody really cares to hear them,†Arenado said. “This isn’t the first time I’ve played through something. Your whole career you deal with things. I think, at the end of the day, you realize your opponent doesn’t care, so you have to go out there and give everything you do have.
“My goal is to make sure I go into the break feeling, OK, I’m headed somewhere.â€
Nootbaar on deck
Encouraged by how his week with Class AA Springfield went, the Cardinals planned to discuss this weekend when outfielder Lars Nootbaar (oblique strain) will rejoin the team, and he is likely to be back in the lineup early in the upcoming home stand.
Nootbaar walked three times Saturday night for the Cardinals’ Double A affiliate, and he had two two-hits games for the S-Cards during a rehab assignment.
“Came out feeling good,†Cardinals manager Oliver Marmol said.
An off day Sunday and Monday for the Cardinals’ Class AA affiliate gives Nootbaar a break — and offers a natural ending to his rehab assignment, if he and the Cardinals believe his timing at the plate is ready for the leap back to the majors. Nootbaar has been limited to 39 games with the Cardinals this season because of a fractured rib in spring training and an oblique strain sustained in late May. He was 7 for 16 in his four games before the injury.
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Edman, etc.
Tommy Edman is set to begin his rehab assignment Tuesday with Class AA Springfield after feeling snappy during a live batting practice session Saturday against teammate Riley O’Brien. For Edman, who had offseason wrist surgery, his next game will be his first game appearance since the final games of 2023.
O’Brien’s readiness for a rehab assignment this week will be determined based on how he recovers following the 20-pitch BP outing.
The Cardinals-Nationals’ first-pitch temp of 97 degrees Saturday was the second hottest of the season, behind only a 100-degree temp for Royals-Marlins on June 24 in Kansas City.