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Cardinals: Anyone who doubted Nolan Arenado looks silly now

By Scott Rogust

CLEVELAND, OH - JULY 28: Nolan Arenado #28 of the St. Louis Cardinals walks to first base against the Cleveland Indians during the third inning at Progressive Field on July 28, 2021 in Cleveland, Ohio. (Photo by Ron Schwane/Getty Images)
CLEVELAND, OH - JULY 28: Nolan Arenado #28 of the St. Louis Cardinals walks to first base against the Cleveland Indians during the third inning at Progressive Field on July 28, 2021 in Cleveland, Ohio. (Photo by Ron Schwane/Getty Images) /
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The St. Louis Cardinals look even smarter for acquiring third baseman Nolan Arenado from the Colorado Rockies.

The St. Louis Cardinals struck first when it came to the quiet offseason in the NL Central division by giving the Colorado Rockies a call for star third baseman Nolan Arenado. All it took was sending over five players in exchange for Arenado and over $50 million. The Cardinals looked like geniuses at the time of the trade, and they look even smarter with around two more weeks remaining in the regular-season.

In Monday night’s game against the Milwaukee Brewers, Arenado crushed a two-run home run to the left-center field stands of American Family Field to give the Cardinals an early 2-0 lead. That was Arenado’s 33rd home run of the season and 101 RBI’s on the year as of this writing.

Cardinals, Nolan Arenado thriving in first season together

Things only get better for the Cardinals.

At the trade deadline, it appeared as though they were going to fall well out of the postseason picture. Instead, they have thrived in the second half of the season. After sweeping the San Diego Padres in their three-game series, the Cardinals now hold a three game lead for sole possession of the second NL Wild Card spot.

Arenado was coming off an uncharacteristically down year in 2020, where he slashed .253/.303/.434 while recording eight home runs and 26 RBI through 48 games in the truncated season. Again, not much should have been made about it, considering the campaign was cut short due to the pandemic.

Now, Arenado is thriving in St. Louis, where he is helping the team make a push for the postseason. Not a bad debut year with the Cardinals for the star third baseman.

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