The Rockies are off to a nice start, but Nolan Arenado is scorching hot

The Colorado Rockies have come out of the gates nicely to start 2022, going 6-3 through their first nine games.

It’s still a very small sample size, but for a team projected to win just 68 games by the oddsmakers, it’s been refreshing to see.

But can you imagine if this team still had Nolan Arenado? He’s on a different planet right now.

Arenado leads the National League in 13 hitting categories, an amazing number dug up by our old friend Benjamin Hochman of The St. Louis Post Dispatch. Hochman, like Arenado, used to call Denver home before heading to Missouri. To be fair, Benjamin is at least from St. Louis.

Fresh to @stltoday: Cardinals’ Nolan Arenado leads NL in hitting, OPS and 11 other categories ​… but is he the hottest-hitting Nolan in the #STLCards organization??

Watch now: https://t.co/mk8xSE5Sf5

— Benjamin Hochman (@hochman) April 18, 2022

Arenado has a ridiculous .433 batting average (1st in the NL) and 1.514 OPS (also 1st in the NL). His 30 total bases lead the National League as do his five doubles and nine extra base hits. He’s blasted four home runs, behind only Rockies power-hitter C.J. Cron who has five.

And yes, I know what you’re thinking, if Arenado were here what would that mean for up and coming star Ryan McMahon?

Well, it’s simple enough. McMahon could played second base where Brendan Rodgers has been pitiful (3-31 so far this season) and form a dangerous infield with Cron, Arenado and shortstop Jose Iglesias, who’s been a pleasant surprise. Better yet, they could’ve re-signed a guy named Trevor Story, but here we are.

This baseball season is young. Really young. In fact, we’ve barely played the equivalent of one full NFL game in terms of percentage of a season. This is similar to the Broncos beating the lousy Giants to start 1-0 in 2021. We all know how that ended.

Trading Arenado (and a cool $50M) is a blunder that will define former GM Jeff Bridich’s tenure with the Rockies and be a blemish on owner Dick Monfort’s resume forever. He would be an incredible fit for the Rockies right now, and really should have finished his career in Denver.

The Rockies might end up surprising some folks this season and winning 75 games or so. That still won’t be good enough for a playoff spot, while Arenado will be chasing a National League MVP and a World Series.

It’s been over a year since Arenado was traded and it’s probably time to move on, but seeing what he’s done out of the gates still stings.
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