Cardinals: Nolan Arenado loses his mind on ump after terrible check swing call (Video)

St. Louis Cardinals third baseman Nolan Arenado flipped his lid on the umpires after a rough check-swing call on Wednesday night.

Arenado and the Cards are in the middle of a pennant race, trying to extend their NL Central advantage over the Milwaukee Brewers. The heroics of Albert Pujols have helped of late, but as St. Louis knows all too well, you can’t take any division lead for granted.

Facing the rival Cubs ought to be a good way to extend that advantage, regardless of how well Chicago is playing. David Ross’ club is 53-70 for a reason.

Down by two runs in the third inning, Arenado represented the tying run at the dish. The third baseman thought he drew a walk on a check swing, but instead was called out via strikeout. His reaction was warranted.

https://twitter.com/MLBONFOX/status/1562606010321104902

The slow-motion replace doesn’t do the umpires any favors. Home plate umpire John Libka and first-base umpire Jim Reynolds really ought to have gotten this one right.

Yep, that was obvious.

Cardinals: Nolan Arenado thrown out of the game

The only downside to Arenado’s fire was that he was thrown out of the game. So, not only did said umpires cost the Cardinals a chance to score, they also threw out arguably their second-best all-around player.

Paul Goldschmidt is an NL MVP frontrunner, and for good reason — heck, even Arenado thinks he should win the award. But that should not overshadow just how good Arenado can be. He’s a platinum glove winner and a dominant power hitter at the plate. He’s worth every penny of his current contract.

Kicking Arenado out of the game when he was right to be upset in the first place is a damn shame.