Nolan Arenado makes worrying admission: He’s lost his swing

On paper, the St. Louis Cardinals had one of the deeper lineups in baseball entering this season. They had a nice mix of veterans led by Paul Goldschmidt and Nolan Arenado, and young players led by Jordan Walker and Lars Nootbaar.

Unfortunately, none of those players have done much at all offensively. That's a huge reason why their offense ranks 29th in the majors in runs scored and 28th in home runs. They're last in the National League in both categories. Their struggling offense is the reason that despite winning 10 of their last 13 games entering play on Tuesday, they're just 25-27 on the year.

Goldschmidt has been fighting his way out of a season-long slump, but Arenado remains as lost as ever. Just listen to what he had to say about his own swing.

Nolan Arenado gives Cardinals fans reason to panic with comments about his swing

“It’s bad. The swing is not good, my swing is not good,” Arenado said after an 0-for-4 day at the plate dropped his batting average to .258. “I’ve been working on it and trying to figure this thing out, but my swing is not good."

The numbers back it up. His swing is not where it needs to be. Frankly, it hasn't been since the first half of last season. Arenado, a player who had hit 30+ home runs in each of his last seven full seasons (excluding 2020) entering the 2023 campaign, has not hit for much power at all since the first half of 2023.

“I haven’t felt like me all year. It’s been a while. I don’t think it’s gone. I still move fast, and I’ve gone through all the numbers -- and the [random] numbers -- and they still tell me I’m moving as fast as I ever have, but there’s a mechanical issue and approach thing. I haven’t been me in the last five months of baseball.”

The 33-year-old hit just seven home runs in the second half of last season and has only three in 51 games and 217 plate appearances so far this season. We're just days away from June and Arenado has three home runs. Even Brendan Donovan has more! As he says, he hasn't been the same guy in the last five months of baseball which is frightening for Cardinals fans to hear. Five months is nearly a full season. He has ten home runs in that span.

“I’m a guy that pulls the ball in the air and I haven’t done that all year. I don’t know what the answers are. I’ve got to continue to try to find it. I can see the difference of when I was good and when I’m not, but trying to apply it in games right now is really hard for me.”

Arenado's 21.2 percent fly ball rate is the lowest of his 12-year MLB career. His 44.8 percent pull rate is his lowest since the 2020 campaign, his last season in Colorado. Both figures are according to Baseball Savant. So, yes, Arenado used to be a guy who pulled fly balls and he's done that less this season than he ever has.

Arenado is slashing .258/.309/.354 with three home runs and 23 RBI in 51 games this season. He has a total of 13 extra-base hits in nearly two months which is hard to fathom for a player who has led the league in both home runs and doubles in his career. To make matters worse, he has three hits in his last 24 at-bats and hasn't hit a home run in over two weeks. He seems farther away from finding his swing.

The Cardinals desperately need Arenado to get going, and quickly, if they want to seriously make noise in the NL Central and the NL as a whole.