No matter what uniform Nolan Arenado is in, it’s always fun to watch him swing the bat.

Too bad it’s no longer with the Colorado Rockies.

But on Thursday, it wasn’t with his still-feels-new-team the St. Louis Cardinals, either. Arenado and Team USA played their final exhibition game of the World Baseball Classic against the Los Angeles Angels, and he went yard.

And not just any kind of home run. Arenado launched a grand slam over the left-center field wall, earning Team USA a quick 4-0 lead.

NOLAN ARENADO GRAND SLAM pic.twitter.com/bJKHaYYPzx

— Talkin’ Baseball (@TalkinBaseball_) March 9, 2023

The Red, White and Blue went on to win the game 6-0, so Arenado’s dinger was the big blow. The team will have Friday off before starting pool play in the WBC against Great Britain on Saturday night. They’ll play Mexico, Canada and Colombia in the following days before the tournament moves on to the quarterfinals.

Arenado is part of an absolutely stacked roster that includes Mike Trout, Paul Goldschmidt, Tim Anderson, Mookie Betts, Pete Alonso, Kyle Tucker, Cedric Mullins and more. Rockies pitchers Kyle Freeland and Daniel Bard are also on the team.

For Arenado, it’s been two seasons since he left Denver, but in some way it still feels like yesterday. It’ll go down as an extremely lopsided trade, as the players Colorado received in return have done very little at the MLB level, while Arenado’s won two Gold Gloves and finished third in NL MVP voting a season ago.

For the Rockies, it’s what could have been had Arenado and former GM Jeff Bridich not had such a tenuous relationship. Instead, we’ll keep seeing Arenado highlights, both at the plate and in the field, it’ll just never be in a purple uniform again.

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