Nolan Arenado’s 2009 scouting report has Mets legend Keith Hernandez fired up
When Nolan Arenado was first drafted by the Colorado Rockies in 2009, then teammate Charlie Blackmon said that he did not have the footwork to be an outfielder. This did not sit well with former New York Mets first baseman Keith Hernandez, who claims that infielders need to be every bit as nimble as outfielders.
Charlie Blackmon was selected by the Colorado Rockies in the 2008 MLB Draft, one year before they drafted Nolan Arenado. Both players came through the minor leagues at the same time and went on to become accomplished hitters.
While Blackmon won two Silver Sluggers and a NL batting champion award with the Rockies, Arenado has finished as the NL home run leader thrice and won five Silver Sluggers awards. Arenado is a ten-time Gold Glove-winning third baseman, but he first started his professional career as an outfielder.
During Sunday's broadcast of the St. Louis Cardinals against the New York Mets game, Keith Hernandez and Gary Cohen were discussing Blackmon's comments about the now-Cardinals star Arenado.
"That guy's going to have to move to first base because of his big, fat, slow feet," Charlie had said.
Fired up after reading this, the Mets legend Hernandez said:
"Move to first base? Of course you know, this means war!"
Keith Hernandez is a former 11-time Gold Glove-winning first baseman who knows what it takes to play the position. Hence, it is no surprise that he disagreed with Blackmon's comments from when he played alongside Arenado.
Nolan Arenado himself admitted that while hitting was his strength, he was not defensively strong. He recalls having weak footwork as a fielder and putting in extra work to improve on his weakness. A decade later, he can safely say that his hard work in those early years has paid off.
Watch: Nolan Arenado makes incredible catch during Cardinals' 5-4 victory vs Mets
St. Louis Cardinals third baseman Nolan Arenado showed exactly why he is one of the best players to ever play in that position during Sunday's game against the New York Mets. The ten-time Gold Glove winner made an incredible basket catch in the ninth inning when a Juan Soto pop-foul made its way towards the left field barriers.
Arenado crashed into a family of Cardinals fans as he made the catch against the netting, falling on top of a little girl. He then made sure that the girl was okay and gave her the ball he had just caught.