Mike Schmidt is generally regarded as the greatest third baseman in Major League history.
He was a rare combination: a Hall of Fame slugger and gifted fielder. He remains the only third baseman in one season to hit at least 40 home runs, drive in 120 runs and win a Gold Glove Award as the best fielder at his position.
At least until Nolan Arenado finishes up this weekend.
The Colorado Rockies third baseman may get little attention, playing for a lower-tier team in a media-barren region of the country.
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But with a steady push through last month, the 24-year-old budding superstar is already two-thirds of the way to Mike Schmidt Land with 41 home runs and 127 runs batted in.
The Gold Glove will not be decided until next month, by a vote of managers and coaches, with an added statistical component mixed in.
But the slick-fielding Arenado already has won the award in his first two seasons in the majors, and this year has saved more runs (14), according to advanced metrics, than anyone at his position.
He also turned in the highlight reel play of the year at third in the spring when he dove headfirst over a rain tarp into the stands to make a spectacular, safety-ignoring, horizontal catch of a foul pop fly.
Although it has been assumed since late summer that Bryce Harper of the Washington Nationals is the Most Valuable Player favourite, Arenado’s September surge has made him a dark-horse candidate who may give Harper a competitive run on the baseball writers' MVP ballot.
After Colorado finished a recent series in San Diego, Padres manager Pat Murphy told the Denver Post he “loved” Arenado. “I’d vote for him. This guy is amazing.”
And mostly under-appreciated. It is early in his career, of course, but his rise has been astonishing. Last year’s numbers were decent (18 HRs, 61 RBI, .500 slugging percentage), but not anything to portend eye-popping offensive numbers one year later.
The breakout season caught everyone by surprise, even his manager. Walt Weiss said that a 20- to 25-homer season would have been solid progression.
Now?
“He’s an elite player on both sides of the ball,” Weiss told MLB.com, after the manager had a recent meeting with Arenado.
“You would think that would be good enough. But he wants to go to the next level, whatever that is.”
The knock on anyone who plays in Denver and puts up big numbers is the “Coors Field” factor. Coors is a notorious hitter-friendly park.
But Arenado has hit more home runs on the road.
His other home-away splits are no more favourable at home than those of others who are putting up MVP-type seasons, including Harper, Josh Donaldson of the Toronto Blue Jays and Paul Goldschmidt of the Arizona Diamondbacks.
Nor does Arenado just pick on second-rate pitchers.
Clayton Kershaw, Madison Bumgarner, Michael Wacha and Craig Kimbrel have all turned and watched his homers fly this season.
Arenado has accepted that he is the new “face of the franchise” after the trade of the popular shortstop Troy Tulowitzki midseason to Toronto. But he is a little taken aback by the sudden MVP talk.
“It doesn’t really ring a bell with me,” he said. “Because it’s never happened to me.”
He may have to get used to it.
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