Reynolds: Rockies 3B Arenado ‘ridiculous,’ ‘off the charts’ talented
Jun 21, 2017, 12:00 AM | Updated: 2:41 pm
Nolan Arenado did it once again on Wednesday night, driving in the game-winning run with an eighth-inning triple to lift the Colorado Rockies over its NL West foe Arizona Diamondbacks 4-3.
But even before Arenado’s late-inning heroics repeat, MLB Network analyst Harold Reynolds was calling the star third baseman “ridiculous.”
On with 104.3 The Fan’s “The Drive” on Tuesday, Reynolds was asked what makes the fifth-year pro so special.
“Everything.”
Said Reynolds: “In this generation, when guys are striking out 150 times to hit 30 home runs, he’s not doing that. He hits for a high average. He fields everything. He’s flawless. And he’s clutch. So, all those things that I just threw out there make him very unique.
“He’s just a great player. I think we have to recognize the greatness when it’s upon us, and he’s one of those guys right now.”
And the only hang-up others might have with Arenado’s performance is where he plays: the cavernous Coors Field in Denver, where the air is thin and the elevation high.
“I hope that the country is starting to wake up to him and not sit there and try to ding him with, ‘Oh, he plays in Colorado. His numbers are inflated,’” Reynolds said.” No, no, no, the talent is off the charts. So, I hope people are recognizing it.”
Fellow national media member, ESPN MLB analyst Tim Kurkjian, touted Arenado as one of the top players in the game right now, putting him in a group with Bryce Harper, Kris Bryant, and Clayton Kershaw behind only Mike Trout.
“If anyone put Nolan Arenado second, it would not get a complaint from me. That’s how good he is,” Kurkjian told The Fan’s “Stokley & Zach” on Tuesday.
“But I think, at worst, he’s in the top five players in baseball, and I think now that the Rockies are good and people everywhere are starting to pay attention. They’re going to realize how good he is.”
Follow digital content producer Johnny Hart on Twitter: @johnnyhart7.