Nolan Arenado, American baseball player
Nolan James Arenado (; born April 16, 1991) is an American professional baseball third baseman for the St. Louis Cardinals of Major League Baseball (MLB). He made his MLB debut with the Colorado Rockies in 2013. Arenado has been considered among the top third basemen in the league both for his contributions as a hitter for power and average, as well as his defensive range and arm strength. He is the only infielder to win the Rawlings Gold Glove Award in each of his first nine MLB seasons. He was traded to the Cardinals prior to the 2021 season.
A native of Newport Beach, California, Arenado attended El Toro High School in Lake Forest before becoming the Rockies' second-round selection in the 2009 MLB draft. A six-time MLB All-Star, his defensive accolades (in addition to his nine Gold Gloves) include four total (and three consecutive) Fielding Bible Awards and three consecutive Wilson Defensive Player of the Year Awards, as well as five consecutive Rawlings Platinum Gloves. Offensively, he is a four-time Silver Slugger Award winner and has twice led the league in both home runs and runs batted in (RBI), and currently leads all major leaguers in RBIs since the start of the 2015 season.
During his minor league career, Arenado was a two-time All-Star Futures Game selection, and led the minor leagues in RBI in 2011 with 155 over 163 total games. In 2016, Arenado became the youngest player in Rockies franchise history to reach 100 home runs. He played for the United States national team in the 2017 World Baseball Classic (WBC), winning Team USA's first gold medal in a WBC tournament. He hit for the cycle on June 18, 2017, and became the sixth player in history to finish off such a performance with a walk-off home run. In 2017, he became the 11th major leaguer and first third baseman in history to drive in 130 or more runs in three successive seasons.